A Charming Wish (15 page)

There had to be a way of
helping him get some part of his memory back. Hopefully, the most
important part he would remember would be
me
.

“
I want everyone to work
on a
return hex
for homework.” Aunt Helena walked around the room giving
details of what she wanted from them. A collective groan filled the
room.

I don’t even know what a
return hex is
. I flipped through the
manual that was sitting in front of me, trying to figure out this
mumbo-jumbo.

“
Really? Because you have
got some really bad ju-ju following you around.” The plump girl
eyed me up and down. “Which means someone has put a bad hex on
you.”

My brows furrowed. I didn’t realize I
had said that out loud.

“
You didn’t say it out
loud. I can read your mind.” She tapped her temple, leaving a small
indent in the fleshy skin. “Bad hex.”

“
Bad hex?” Fear knotted
inside my gut as my intuition lit fire. Never in a million years
did I believe someone would put an evil spell on me.

Was this the reason for the murder?
The break-in at Wicked Good? Or worse, why was someone framing
me?

I tried to concentrate on all the
things Aunt Helena was teaching, but my mind continued to go back
to the last couple of days and the realization that I’ve got to do
whatever I can to figure this mess out.

“
June?” Aunt Helena tapped
the edge of my tabletop. “Class is dismissed.”

I looked around at the empty tables
behind me. I was so consumed with my thoughts that I didn’t know
everyone had left.

“
I’m assuming you aren’t
staying.” Aunt Helena sat down on the empty stool next to me. Her
cloak swished around her. She put her hand on my knee.

I nodded. “I have to get back to
Eloise’s and try to stay out of trouble while I figure all of this
out.”

“
Though I’d love for you
to stay here, I know you are bull-headed and won’t. My only advice
is to rely on your stable gift of intuition to guide you. The
level-twenty eight talents will come when you need them. You must
stay safe. Be a good girl and play by their rules.” There was some
caution in her voice. “You will figure this out.”

“
I hope so.” I glanced out
of the window at the passing students wearing smiles on their
faces, without a care in the world.

There was no time to waste. I gathered
up my bag and gave Aunt Helena a quick hug.

Mr. Prince Charming was waiting on the
steps when I walked out.

Mewl,
mewl
. He batted at a spiderweb that was
wrapped between the spindles on the steps.

“
No time to dilly-dally.”
I shook my finger at him.. “We’ve got to go figure this thing
out.”

I picked up Mr. Prince Charming and
held him close to my body. If I was going to do this
teletransporting, I didn’t want to do it without him.

I envisioned us sitting on the couch
in Eloise’s tree house before I plunged my free fist the
ground.

Chapter Nineteen

“
I’m not about to ask
where you have been,” Eloise called out from the deck of the tree
house. “But if you do it again, I won’t be able to cover for
you.”

“
Why didn’t you tell me
about Oscar?” I asked. Finding out what happened to him and our
life together was more important to me than being framed for murder
or thievery.

“
I had no idea that most
things happen until after they happen.” Eloise walked into the
house and held her hand out. “Brunch is waiting.”

Eloise had the best gardens in any
spiritual community around. Lanterns hung from the trees dotted the
gravel pathway with beautiful flowers planted on both sides. I ran
my hand along the vibrant purple, green, red, orange and yellow
flowers. Wisteria vines provided a fragrant canopy leading to a
clearing.

There were rows and rows of herbs,
neatly planted and perfectly proportioned on the way to the gazebo
where Eloise had brunch ready. Mr. Prince Charming’s tail waved
above the rows as he darted in and out of the herbs ahead of
us.

Each row had a painted wooden sign
with the names of the herbs that followed in line. Herbs I had
never heard of. I walked in front of each row, touching each herb
sign.

“
Rose petals, moonflower,
mandrake root, seaweed, shrinking violet, dream dust, fairy dust,
magic peanut, lucky clover, steal rose,” I whispered, remembering
the simpler times I had spent here.

The mismatched tea setting was perfect
for the occasion. Everything was mismatched these days. Quickly I
counted five chairs, five china cups, five saucers, and a large
assortment of pastries from Wicked Good.

“
Are we expecting
company?” I was in no mood for chitchat with anyone.

“
You will be seeing a lot
of us, dearie,” Mary Lynn floated above the table. She stretched
out her gloved hand, reaching out to grab a scone.

“
Stop that!” Mary Sue
appeared next to Mary Lynn and smacked Mary Lynn’s hand away.
“That’s rude.”

“
Don’t tell
us
what’s rude!” Mary
Ellen appeared next to the table in a hot pink tutu and wearing a
tiara nestled in her black hair. “You are the queen of rude in how
you treat people.”

“
I knew the day you were
chosen that it was a mistake.” Mary Sue and Mary Lynn took their
seats at the table.

“
Can’t we all get along?”
Mary Lynn adjusted her fox stole and picked at her
curls.

“
Well it was.” Mary Sue
wasn’t going to let any of the younger elders tell her what was
what. “She is entirely too young to be an elder and
she
is entirely too
young to be a Village president.” She pointed her sharp nail toward
me.

“
Leave me out of this.” I
pulled a seat out and sat down. The faster we got this over with
the better. Eloise rolled her eyes and started to fill the teacups
with delicious dark tea.

“
This looks good.” Mary
Ellen leaned over her cup and took a whiff of the steam. “Naughty,
naughty.” Mary Ellen waved a finger in Eloise’s direction. “Trying
to disguise different herbs to achieve harmony.” Mary Ellen
referred to the tea. She knew Eloise was trying to keep the
peace.

“
What? Blackberry is for
healing. We need the healing.” Eloise made sure she had the perfect
combination for all of her guests. “Now, let’s all get along and
figure out how to get June out of this mess and my nephew back to
where he belongs.”

“
Oh my.” Mary Lynn grabbed
the napkin and lifted it to her mouth as she shook her
head.

“
He will never be back the
way he was.” Mary Sue reached over and patted Mary Lynn’s
hand.

“
What do you mean?” A
spark shot from Eloise’s finger when she point toward the
unfriendly Mary.

Mary Ellen jumped up and stood between
a sitting Mary Sue and a standing Eloise. “Like you said, we all
need to get along.” Mary Ellen put her hands out as Eloise came
closer. “You know what happens when someone denounces their
powers.”

“
He only denounced it
until the crimes are solved.” Eloise glared back and forth between
the Mary’s. If looks could kill, there would be three more murders
on my hands.

“
You only have one time to
denounce your powers, and that is forever.” Mary Sue snapped her
fingers. A book appeared in her hand. She placed it on the table
and used her finger in the air to flip the pages. When it stopped,
she pointed to a page. “Right here.”

Eloise leaned in closer. With her eyes
squinted she let out a loud gasp. Slowly, she turned toward me. Her
eyes were set back in her head, dark circles quickly forming around
them.

“
No, no, no.” I stood up,
knocking the chair on the floor. “No! I did not sign up for
this!”

“
Whether you signed on the
dotted line or not, this is your life.” Mary Sue jabbed at the
page. “He was told the consequences of what would happen if he
denounced his powers in order to come back here and help
you.”

“
Yes, he erased of all his
spiritual memories and of even living here.” Mary Lynn twisted her
hand in the air and Oscar appeared in a cloud of gray
smoke.

“
I have to help her! I
don’t care if you erase my memory and I don’t remember being a
spiritualist. I love her and love conquers all. We will come back
together because we are destined to be together.”

My heart broke watching the
conversation he had before the Marys had stripped him of his
powers.

“
I have to go back and
help her. She needs me. Take away all of my spiritual gifts and
memory!”

“
No!” I screamed, reaching
out to the gray cloud right before it disappeared into mid-air. I
scurried over to Eloise who was bent over clutching her stomach.
She and Oscar had just found each other after years of her
searching for him after his evil uncle had kidnapped him. “I’m so
sorry. I’m so sorry.”

She pushed me away and scrambled to
her feet. In silence, I watched as she ran back down the
cobblestone walk toward the tree house.

“
Look what you have done!”
I scolded the Marys. “After everything she has done for you. You
should be ashamed.”

“
She asked.” Mary Sue
shrugged. “We aren’t in the business of sugar-coating things. We
are in the business of fixing the spiritual world when our
leaders
screw
up.”

“
And you couldn’t talk him
out of it?” I walked around the table, glaring at each one of them.
Mary Lynn’s eyes were filled with tears and Mary Ellen wouldn’t
even look at me. Mary Sue was the one who was
responsible.

The sky filled with dark clouds and a
clap of thunder was loud and clear followed up by a vicious bolt of
lightning.

“
Time to go.” Mary Lynn
put her thumb and finger together as if she was going to snap her
way out.

I grabbed her hands. “Time to go
where?”

“
The funeral.” Mary Ellen
twirled her finger in the air instantly changing her outfit into a
black tight mini-dress and a large brimmed floppy hat.

Kenny.

Chapter
Twenty

I didn’t go back in the house to see
if Eloise was okay. I knew she needed space and I needed to give it
to her. After all, it was because of me that Oscar gave up his
spiritual life. But he was right. We would come back together
because we were destined to be together.

“
Forever,” I whispered as
I stood on the edge of the forest and Whispering Falls. I closed my
eyes and concentrated on a disguise. “I wish to be disguised so I
can go to Kenny’s funeral and not be recognized.”

When I opened my eyes, I was standing
at the bottom of the steps of Two Sisters and A Funeral, covered in
head-to-toe pink. Even my bag had been turned pink. Everything, all
the way down to hot pink eye shadow and blush. I looked like
someone had taken me to the Pepto Bismal factory and dipped me into
the vat.

“
A Fairy?” I murmured. I
had no idea how these powers worked, and I liked them, but I’m far
from a pink fairy girl. “Fine.” I waved the wand in the air and ran
up the steps, stopping shy of the door. “Excuse me.” I looked
behind me and realized I had seen my image in the funeral home’s
doors and thought someone was behind me.

I rotated from left to right and took
a good look.

Hiss, hiss.
Mr. Prince Charming was very vocal about his
distaste of the wings and tiara.

“
And you think I like it?”
I scowled. “You stay here.”

What good would my fairy disguise be
if Mr. Prince Charming tagged along? Cautiously, I opened the door.
The foyer and steps were packed. All sorts of spiritualists were
there, including some of Kenny’s tribesmen, or at least they looked
like and dressed like him.

No one paid any attention to me as I
stood there.

“
There is no way she’s
going to show up here.” A familiar voice walked up in line behind
me.

Fluttering my wings, I slightly turned
around to see who Petunia was talking to. I recognized her voice
and I wondered who she was talking about.

“
I heard she was put on
house arrest.” Faith stood next to Petunia with Raven on the other
side.

“
I haven’t heard anything
from the winds.” Faith’s eyes grew big and she lowered her voice,
“But I wouldn’t put it past her to have killed him. She was
probably mad he wasn’t doing his spiritual job right.”

Petunia’s hazel eyes blinked rapidly,
followed by an open stare. I watched her closely. After all, she
was still on my list of suspects.

Great, the two of them
together were bashing me when both of them are mad at me.
I refrained from turning around and giving them a
piece of my mind. My heart pounded in the confines of my pink tutu
as my mind raced. One of them had to be the killer. Each of them
threatened me on the day of Kenny’s death.