Meows, Magic & Elves

by Madison Johns

  “What are you doing back here? Didn’t we just tell you that we can handle finding the mice?”

  “I’d better call Hazel about the marshmallows,” Aunt Maxine said as she exited the room.

  Noah frowned. “Actually I came to ask if you had more cat food. For some reason I thought you brought over more.”

  “How many times have you fed them?”

  “I try to make sure their dishes are kept full.”

  “Oh no you don’t! My cats can only be fed twice a day. If I kept their dishes filled all the time they’d have diabetes.”

  “So do you have another bag or not?”

  “I have one, but please don’t feed them again today. And put the food where they can’t get to it, like in a closet.”

  “So put the cat food in the closet.” Noah chuckled to himself. “I don’t suppose you want to tell me what’s really going on over here?”

  “If I really could have conjured your Christmas decorations, would you want to know about it?”

  Noah’s lips curled downward. “I’d rather not know,” he said as he pulled the neck of his shirt slightly away from his skin as if someone was trying to choke him.

  Petunia knew right then that she could never tell Noah she suspected elves were in her house. “It’s a good thing I didn’t have anything to do with it then.”

  “What about Aunt Maxine? Would she do it?”

  “Would I do what?” Aunt Maxine asked as she walked back into the kitchen.

  “Noah wondered if you had anything to do with his Christmas decorations.”

  “If only it were that easy. No. Not many witches possess the powers to conjure.”

  “It would be too dangerous,” Petunia said.

  “Right you are. Now run along, Noah,” Aunt Maxine said as Petunia handed him a bag of cat food and ushered him out the door.

  Petunia took a haggard breath. “He suspects we’re up to something.”

  “So tell him about the elves.”

  “This is one thing we need to keep among ourselves. I don’t think Noah could handle the truth.”

  “I still don’t understand how my decorations could come to life,” Aunt Maxine said.

  They were distracted by a knock on the door. Halfway to the door, it opened to a smiling Hazel and Wanda dressed in bright green dresses with red–and-white striped stockings.

  “How delightful,” Pansy sneered. “I don’t see how they’ll be of any help.”

  “We need help and you know it. Check for elves upstairs.”

  “There’s no need for crazy talk. I’m staying right here.”

  “I’m sure we’ll have to split up to cover more ground.”

  “Oh great. You know in those horror movies that never goes well. I don’t want us to get picked off by some magical elves.”

  Wanda yanked back the bag she was dangling, filled, presumably, with marshmallows. “I’ll take care of the marshmallows. You should probably put on something more comfortable that you don’t want to get dirty.”

  “I can’t imagine there’s much dust in the house.”

  “Oh?” Hazel asked. “So I won’t find any dust bunnies under the couch?”

  “Good point.”

  Petunia hurried up the stairs and changed into gray sweatpants and a long shirt that came to her mid- thighs. She had no more thrown her dirty clothes in the laundry basket when Petunia noticed the closet door creaking open.

  She nervously jerked open the door and stared into nothingness. Petunia nervously laughed. “Get a grip, Petunia,” she said out loud. The anticipation of seeing the elves frightened her more than she wanted to admit. She couldn’t let something like elves intimidate her from staying in her own home.

  When Petunia strolled into the kitchen Aunt Maxine, Wanda and Hazel were arranging the hot chocolate mugs on the table. Petunia inhaled the chocolaty goodness and made to pick one up when Hazel picked it up instead. “This one is mine.”

  “Oh.”

  “Sit over there,” Aunt Maxine said. “Bring the marshmallows, Hazel.”

  Petunia examined the squared marshmallows and asked. “Did you buy these from the store?”

  Wanda’s eyes widened ever so slightly. “Oh no, they’re —.”

  Hazel elbowed Wanda in ribs. “I had them left over from the summer. The squared ones are for s’mores.”

  “Oh good. I’d like two.”

  “One is more than enough,” Hazel insisted.

  “If she wants two let her have two,” Wanda said, a twinkle in her eyes.

  Petunia put two marshmallows in her cup and used her spoon to stir them until they melted. She blew on the hot liquid and took a sip. It was a delightful blend of chocolate and marshmallow, and because it wasn’t too hot she drank it down.

  11

  Aunt Maxine fixed her eyes on Petunia’s. “Are you all right, dear?”

  “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “Wow, your cheeks are really … pink!” Hazel exclaimed. “I told you not to let her have two marshmallows, Wanda.”

  “But I wanted to make sure —.”

  Petunia stood up in a panic and raced to the bathroom, where she peered into the mirror and gasped. Her cheeks were ridiculously red!

  Pansy pawed at her leg until Petunia grumbled at him, “Would you stop it! I’m having a crisis at the moment.”

  “I know. That’s what I was trying to tell you! You’re —.”

  “I know my face is red, I can see it!” Petunia splashed cold water on her face and rubbed her cheeks, but there was no change in the pigmentation. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you, Pansy,” Petunia cried.

  “You don’t have to apologize to me, but you really need to look at your ears.”

  Petunia looked up and gently touched her pointed ears, her eyes widening in horror. She tugged her auburn hair behind her ears and screamed.

  Petunia stormed back into the kitchen, where Hazel peered at her from behind Wanda. “I told you she should only have one marshmallow.”

  “Oh my!” Aunt Maxine exclaimed. “You told me you knew what you were doing.”

  “I do know what I’m doing,” Hazel squeaked.

  “Or you thought you did.” Wanda laughed.

  “This isn’t funny. Why are all of you laughing? And why did you let Hazel cast a spell on me, Aunt Maxine?”

  “I didn’t cast a spell on you. It’s more of a potion concealed inside a marshmallow.”

  “You know this is a bit of payback,” Pansy said. “You turned me into a cat, and they turned you into an elf.”

  “I’m not an elf!”

  “Calm down. I know you’re not, but you do have elf ears.”

  “I know I have elf ears!”

  Petunia’s hands clenched into fists. “Okay, you got me, Hazel. You all had a good laugh, but please change me back.”

  “I can’t change you back because I didn’t turn you into anything.”

  “I certainly didn’t have a red face and elf ears before I ate the marshmallows!”

  “Let’s calm down,” Aunt Maxine said. “Have a seat, Petunia, and we’ll talk to you about what happened -- or what needed to happen.”

  “Christmas elves are invisible,” Wanda said. “Now that you ate the marshmallow, your elves will be visible to you.”

  Petunia put her fists to her hips. “So explain the elf ears.”

  “You had too much of a dose? I really can’t say for certain, but the potion will wear off after Christmas,” Hazel said.

  “After Christmas! You expect me to go out of the house looking like this?”

  “You could always stay home to deal with the elves,” Hazel said. “That’s what you wanted to do to begin with.”

  “That was before I had elf ears! Noah and I are looking for a missing woman and child. I can’t do that if I’m stuck at home.”

  “You can’t go out looking like that,” Aunt Maxine said. “We don’t want the town to find out about this.”

  “List
en to your aunt,” Hazel said. “It’s very unfortunate this happened, but you’ll be able to find the elves now.”

  “Having elf ears might help you with that. The elves will probably trust you now that you partially resemble them,” Wanda offered. “You can wear a hat if you go out.”

  “My cheeks look like I drew a circle with a red marker and filled it in. And it doesn’t wash out.”

  “A little concealer will tone the color down.”

  “Or you could wear a scarf over your face,” Aunt Maxine said.

  “I’ll have to try the concealer, because there’s no way I’m telling Noah about this.”

  “You’re right. Under no circumstances are you to tell Noah about the potion.”

  “He’ll never believe it was Hazel’s potion when I’m the one who’s a screw-up in the potion department.”

  “Not always,” Aunt Maxine said. “We should all look for the elves.”

  “Do you all plan to eat magical marshmallows too?”

  “That’s funny when you say it that way, but no, I don’t think I’ll want to eat a marshmallow for some time.”

  “We were wrong to give you a potion without telling you about it,” Hazel said.

  “I recall you saying that a witch should never use a spell or potion against another witch,” Petunia sniffled.

  “Hazel didn’t do it maliciously,” Wanda said. “We’re all sorry this happened, but you must find the elves and keep them out of trouble.”

  “What’s the worst they can do, redecorate all the houses in Lake Forest?” Petunia asked.

  “That would be bad,” Aunt Maxine said. “It would draw too much attention, and how would we explain that?”

  Petunia fanned her flaming cheeks. “I’m the only one with elf ears here and since I don’t want to answer questions about them, I think I had better find the elves. I won’t need any more help from any of you.”

  When Petunia carried the mugs to the sink she heard a squeaky voice say, “Don’t dump it out!”

  “It’s still full,” another voice said.

  The mugs rattled together as Petunia set them in the sink. Her heart pounded against her chest and she took a ragged breath. She slowly looked next to the sink where two elves -- each only six inches tall -- stood.

  Petunia grabbed the edge of the counter. “Hello,” she choked out.

  “Don’t be frightened,” the female elf said.

  “We know seeing us for the first time can be overwhelming,” the male elf added.

  Both elves wore green vests and pants with a red-and-green striped shirt beneath. While they didn’t wear pointy-toed shoes, it was quite obvious they were indeed elves.

  Petunia turned. She was alone in the kitchen except for Pansy, who glanced up at her.

  “Where did Aunt Maxine, Hazel and Wanda go?” Petunia asked.

  “They left. I don’t think they wanted to distract you when you were talking to the elves. You are, aren’t you?”

  Petunia merely nodded and forced a smile at the elves. “I’m Petunia,” she greeted.

  “I’m Chloe,” the female elf said.

  “Vincent at your service,” the other said.

  “You’ve both been very naughty sneaking around my house. You scared my cats half to death.”

  “We didn’t mean to,” Chloe said. “Felines are especially sensitive to our presence.”

  “That’s if they can sense us,” Vincent said. “We’re invisible to them too.” His eyes twinkled. “What kind of elf are you? I’ve heard of tall elves, but we’ve never met one.”

  “I’m not an elf. I took a potion to be able to see you and now I have elf ears.”

  “They look nice on you,” Chloe complimented.

  Petunia sighed. “Why are you here?”

  “We really don’t know,” Vincent said. “One minute we were making toys and poof, we were transported here.”

  “Quite magically,” Chloe added.

  “You could say Lake Forest is a magical town,” Petunia said.

  “And Christmas is a magical time of year,” Chloe added.

  “Did you decorate the house next door?”

  “We didn’t mean to, but the decorations were dreadful and we were bored.”

  “It must be horrible to be so bored, but I can’t allow you to redecorate my neighbors’ houses. It would be dreadful if someone figured out you’re here. I’ve been told that elves can be mischievous.”

  “We’re very good at that, but we’ll behave if you keep us from being bored. But I don’t think you have the supplies for toy making,” Vincent said.

  “As it happens, I’ve been searching for a woman and child. I could take you along with me if you promise to behave yourselves.”

  Chloe and Vincent nodded.

  “You can put us in your pocket,” Chloe offered. “But you should conceal your ears so you don’t scare the other humans.”

  “Have you ever appeared somewhere before?” Petunia asked.

  They shook their heads sadly. “I’ve heard of other elves that have disappeared right before Christmas.”

  “They returned with Santa,” Vincent said with a smile. “Maybe that’s how we’ll go home. That gives us another twenty-four hours with you.”

  Oh great! Whatever would Petunia do with two elves? It was bad enough she had to conceal her pointed ears. She didn’t have a choice in the matter. She’d have to take them along after she made a few things crystal clear.

  “You are to remain in my pocket at all times,” Petunia said, “unless I tell you it’s safe to get out.”

  “I don’t understand why when nobody but you can see us.”

  “It’s either that or I’m not taking you with me.”

  After the elves agreed, Petunia applied concealer that managed to tone down her bright red cheeks enough to make her comfortable in public. She rummaged through the closet and found a red stocking hat that she pulled on to cover her ears. She didn’t know how she’d keep Noah from seeing her without a hat on.

  “I’ll have to find somewhere for you to sleep,” Petunia said. “I have four cats. I can’t expect my neighbor to watch them until you leave.”

  “It’s not like we’re trying to scare you cats, but we’ll do whatever you ask if you let us have some hot chocolate.”

  “I’d love to, but all my cups are too big for either of you.”

  “We can take care of that,” Chloe said. She waved a hand and two tiny mugs of hot chocolate appeared on the counter.

  Petunia stumbled back and gripped the edge of the counter. They possessed more magic than any witch. She nervously filled the tiny mugs with the remainder of the hot chocolate, and Chloe and Vincent drank it down.

  “We really need to go,” Petunia said.

  “Goodie,” Chloe crowed. “Are we leaving now?”

  Petunia put on her coat and placed the elves in her right pocket before she picked up Pansy and headed out the door for Noah’s house.

  When Noah opened the door, Petunia said, “I’m sorry about Aunt Maxine. I shouldn’t have let it slip that I was staying here.”

  “She’s concerned about you. I hope you know I’m not that type of man.”

  “I know. You’re one of a kind, Noah,” Petunia said as she slugged his arm. “Sorry, I don’t know why I did that.”

  Noah laughed. “So what’s the status of the varmints?”

  “They’re contained for the moment. I’d like to take my cats home now.”

  “Thanks … . I mean, I appreciated their company, but Melvin certainly doesn’t. Merlin has been bullying him. Merlin is the ringleader, in case you don’t know.”

  “Oh believe me, I know.”

  “I haven’t made up my mind about Pansy. I know he’s your favorite, but he doesn’t have much of a personality.”

  “What?” Pansy squirmed in Petunia’s arms until she let him down. Pansy then proceeded to swipe Noah’s leg with his claws.

  “Ouch! What did you do that, you crazy cat?”


  “I’ll do more than that if you don’t get me out of here, Red. The lughead doesn’t know who he’s messing with. I could teach him something in the man department too. He’s a little slow on the uptake.”

  “What?” Petunia asked.

  “He doesn’t have any moves or lines. Any self-respecting man would have tried to get you to stay over by now.”

  “Just because you were like that when you were a human doesn’t mean all men are that way.”

  “Whatever, Red.”

  Petunia had to ignore the giggling from inside her pocket. She froze for a moment until she saw that Noah didn’t react to the sound. Thankfully, she was the only one who could hear them. Petunia smiled in relief.

  “I’d really like to drop by the country club after we deal with the cats,” Petunia said.

  “Sounds good to me, but why?”

  “I was hoping the woman might have booked a room there.”

  “Sound plausible, but I thought you spotted her near the mayor’s house.”

  “I’m not even sure that was even her.”

  “Good point.”

  Noah and Petunia moved her cats and their belongings back to her house, and then hooked Pansy’s leash to his collar. She bundled him in a small fleece blanket and hopped in Noah’s car for the trip to the country club.

  The beautiful wintery night was made even more picturesque by the Christmas decorations and lights aplenty from the light poles in town to the homes of the residents. Petunia had to admit there were other homes that would be in close contention with Noah’s house. She wondered if the elves had a hand in any of those decorated houses.

  The lights came on around the lake in anticipation of ice skaters During the holidays the ice was always packed with skaters. Recently a warming shed had been erected, and the women’s groups provided refreshments. Ice fishing was allowed only in late January when ice skating in the frigid temperatures was less desirable.

  The Lake Forest Country Club was an elegant two-story colonial with garland and lights wrapped around the pillars.

  Petunia glanced up at the chandelier in the foyer that offered a welcoming glow. She warmed herself momentarily by the fireplace before continuing to the reception desk. The primary amenity was the golf course, but the club was also the place to hobnob with the affluent locals, including Mayor Hopkins and his delightful wife Bonnie.