Pumpkins and Potions

by Tegan Maher

  “Not much to ask, huh,” Lark said on a chuckle.

  I moved to stand in front of Iris before she hit him with her cane.

  “Just sprinkle the dust. I’ll figure out what we need to see.” The words came out brimming with confidence I didn’t have. One family of witches out of South Carolina in a little town called Burberry had three great aunts who always knew just the right spell. The issue with the fountain being I couldn’t go forward or back in time. I needed to find a witch using the spells I needed right at this moment.

  A couple of guards rushed past us in the courtyard, their voices low and serious.

  “How’s the searching going?” Lark asked.

  The guard on the right didn’t stop but turned his head to say, “That nymph girl is making it rain in all of the castle bedrooms.”

  Iris choked and heaved and coughed on what I assumed to be string of curse words that didn’t make it out of her throat. I patted her upper back. All the ruined gowns, makeup, and other things she held precious and dear would be ruined. There wouldn’t be enough wand magic to fix it all.

  I tugged Lark’s sleeve and pointed to the fountain. We had to do this fast before Amaranth realized we weren’t in the dining hall anymore.

  Lark tossed a sprinkling of fairy dust onto the water.

  I dipped the tips of my fingers inside and said, “Show me witches searching for a missing person.”

  The water stilled and within seconds showed a woman sitting in front of a map. She wasn’t one of my Burberry witches. I could tell by her long dark hair, black dress, and thick-soled black boots. The Burberry witches were fair-haired and a lot less goth. This one would have to do as I didn’t have time to keep searching.

  The witch called upon the cosmos to assist her with finding her sister. The sadness in her voice made my stomach twist. After a short spell, she held a crystal tied to a string over the map. The crystal swirled and whirled in a circle before jerking her hand forward and standing upright in the middle of the state of Texas.

  “Is that all we need?” Iris asked.

  A mosquito buzzed around my face and I shooed it away. “Lark, wand me a crystal, string, and a map of the castle. Finding Leaf is only the first problem. We have to catch her too.”

  Iris thumped her cane on the ground. “I’ll catch her all right.”

  Lark withdrew his wand and tapped until he had the items I’d asked for.

  How did a witch catch a fairy? Catching our kind wasn’t exactly easy, which was the reason we’d managed to stay out of the hands of humans all these hundreds of years.

  I dipped my fingers in the fountain again. Finding a witch trapping a non-human being would mean coming across images that might sit heavy with me for some time to come. While the majority of fairies were good, witches could range between virtuous to moderately bad and at the other end of the spectrum, completely evil. “Show me a witch who can trap…”

  Iris must have recognized my hesitation because she dipped her fingers into the water alongside mine and said, “A horrid little prankster.”

  Lark chuckled. “Nice.”

  On Halloween, that specific of a situation shouldn’t be too hard to find. The water shimmered and the image changed. An elderly woman rocked in a creaky rocking chair in front of a fire. She wore an oversized sweater with moth holes near the shoulders. A tabby cat sat in her lap and she ran her long, thin fingers through his fur.

  “We’ll stop their pranks for good this year, my little Tiger,” the woman murmured to the cat.

  “Well she’s scary.” Iris said out loud what all three of us were thinking.

  I swallowed hard. “We just need the spell.”

  “What are you guys doing?” Still dressed as Prince Charming, Heath’s loud voice boomed from behind us.

  I startled and caught myself before I almost toppled over inside the fountain.

  “Shh.” Iris waved a hand at him. “We’re finding a way to catch your demon spawn of a sister.”

  He frowned and joined us at the edge of the fountain just as the witch pushed the sleepy cat from her lap. She reached to the side table and opened a thick leather-bound journal. The pages rattled as she flipped through, accompanied by the crackle of her fire.

  The woman cleared her throat. “Children who are bad you’ll see, wrapping toilet paper around my trees; the branches they are not your friends, they’ll keep you to the very end.”

  “That’s ominous,” Heath whispered. “I don’t want you to hurt my sister over some pranks.”

  The old witch walked to her front window and her shoulders shook with laughter.

  I dipped my fingers in the fountain. “Show us the children the witch spoke of.”

  The image changed to what I assumed to be the outside of her decrepit wood-framed house. Three teenagers laughed and tossed rolls of toilet paper into the air, the long strands catching in a large oak tree’s branches.

  Without warning, the branches grabbed the three teens and wrapped around their midsections, lifting them into the air. The toilet paper rolls dropped to the ground.

  “Is she going to kill them with a tree?” Lark asked. “This is making me very uncomfortable.”

  “Same,” Heath said.

  The tree shook them hard, hung them upside down, and then dropped them on the ground with a thud. The teens scrambled to their feet and ran down the road. The witch opened her door and her cackle echoed through the night.

  I let out a pent-up breath. “See. All’s well in the end. This spell will work. We only need to find an object to hold Leaf still long enough for me to grab my wand.”

  Iris stood and a twinkle of hope shone bright in her violet eyes. “Let’s go get that little troublemaker.”

  5

  I’d never seen Amaranth’s face such a vibrant shade of red. He sputtered and spewed his commands to a group of guards cowering in front of him.

  I thought he hadn’t caught sight of us sneaking back past the dining hall, so when he stretched out his arm and pointed a finger at our group, I froze in place. My heart skipped a beat or two as he stomped—not flew—to us.

  Iris snickered and slapped her knee. Then she stared at her hand. “I don’t know why I just did that. It seemed a very hag thing to do.”

  “Before you start screaming at us, Lark hasn’t left our side.” I gestured with my thumb to the guard who now stood at attention.

  Amaranth’s glare held us all in place. “There are goats in the main throne room. They are eating the throne pillows.”

  “She does like goats,” Heath added, his voice serene.

  “We’ll take care of the goats.” I grabbed onto Heath’s sleeve and gave it a tug. “You can continue the search while we at least take care of that.”

  Amaranth moved within an inch of Lark’s face. “Within a heartbeat of Juniper.”

  “Yes, sir,” Lark responded. “Of course, sir.”

  Our group of four scurried by as Amaranth returned his attention to the other guards.

  “Why didn’t you tell him your plan?” Heath asked, once out of earshot.

  “He’d never agree to my performing actual witchcraft.” And if I failed, it’d be one more thing for him to put in his “told you so” pile. Not that I didn’t deserve it all at this point.

  “What if it doesn’t work?” Lark asked.

  “It will work. This is Juniper, heir to the throne of the fairy godparents.” Iris nodded at me as though her words sealed our success as fact.

  The throne room was where my parents received visitors and settled disputes between the fairy folk in the kingdom. My father took pride in the simple décor and never used it as a place of intimidation. The two throne chairs sat on the floor instead of a raised platform. Comfortable couches and wingback chairs surrounded them in front. The designs on the pillows had been hand embroidered by my mother.

  “My father is going to kill me.” I had zero doubts this time when I said the words. No dungeon for me. It’d definitely be an early grav
e. Magic wands and fairy dust couldn’t fix everything. They most certainly couldn’t replace the hours Mom spent stitching her special designs.

  Five black and white goats bleated in various volume levels while jumping from couch to chairs as if they were excited children.

  “He’s definitely going to research fairy adoption options after this,” Iris added.

  “Lark, you and Heath gather the goats and then wand them back to wherever they came from. Iris and I will set up the locater spell. We’ll need to move fast after that to catch her.”

  The men rushed toward the goats while I spread the castle map out on the floor. Iris tied the string to the crystal and dangled it from the end of her fingers.

  When the bleating stopped and all the goats were back to their homes, Heath and Lark joined us at the map.

  I sat cross-legged on the floor, taking the string. “Dearest Cosmos, please hear our plea for help.”

  “That’s not what the other witch said,” Iris chimed in.

  “Who’s the witch here?” I snapped.

  “Fine, do your thing, witch,” she snapped back.

  I closed my eyes and cleared my mind. From what I understood, witches needed a direct connection to the cosmos, which was an assemblage of all the things that made up mother earth. The past, the present, the future, the stars, the moon and sun, the flowers and trees, and all the assortments of creatures.

  “Cosmos, hear me please, help me seek princess Leaf with ease. Guide us along the proper path—”

  “So we can kick that little girl’s a—”

  “Iris!” I interrupted her.

  “Sorry,” the hag said. “It just slipped out.”

  “Look, it’s moving,” Heath said.

  The crystal tugged my hand forward and landed in the middle of the castle’s greenhouse. Of course a wood nymph would feel most at home surrounded by flowers. The spell worked. Even with Iris’s modification at the end. The cosmos most likely could feel my desperation.

  “Thank you, cosmos,” I whispered.

  “We still have to catch her,” Iris said.

  “You and Heath stay here.” I held up my hand when she opened her mouth to argue. “Lark can only take one of us with him and we need to wand in quickly and then say the spell. She might hang around for a few extra seconds if it’s only the two of us.”

  “What if you fail?” Heath asked.

  “Then we’ll have to send for her parents and mine.”

  “We’ll be in a ton of trouble if we can’t get her under control before our parents’ conference is complete,” Heath said. “You might have given her your wand, but we’re supposed to keep an eye on her. We failed too.”

  He glanced at Iris and I could see his remorse at what his sister had done.

  I appreciated him taking a small slice of responsibility, but ultimately the blame sat squarely upon my witchy head.

  “Do you remember the spell?” Iris asked.

  “I do. With a slight modification. And it’s perfect for where she is too.”

  Lark reached out and I took a hard, deep breath before clasping his hand. We had one chance to get it right.

  Stick with me, cosmos.

  With a tap of his wand, Lark and I poofed inside the greenhouse.

  Leaf stood in front of a goat, plucking flower petals from a sunflower and dropping them to the floor. When she saw us, she grabbed for my wand which she’d set down on a shelf.

  “Child who is bad you’ll see, stealing my wand away from me; the flowers they are not your friends, they’ll keep you to the very end,” I shouted.

  The stalks from the sunflowers twisted and grabbed each of her arms, holding her in place.

  Lark rushed forward and grabbed her by the shoulders while I made a mad dash for my wand. I wrapped my hands around the handle and my entire body relaxed as if every muscle breathed its very own sigh of relief.

  With a tap to my head, I said, “Restore.”

  The green tinge of my skin returned to a pale peach, the warts disappeared off of my face, and best of all, my fairy wings unfurled.

  “Find Amaranth and bring him and Ash here to us.”

  Lark hesitated but let go of Leaf. “Yes, Princess Juniper.” He straightened and wanded out of the greenhouse.

  Leaf kept her gaze lowered to the ground.

  “What was the point of all of this?” I tapped my wand against the sunflower stalks so they’d release their grip on her arms. The chances of Leaf escaping were small, and even if she did, she didn’t have a wand any longer.

  “You’re obviously as bored being a fairy as I am a nymph. Wasn’t this Halloween night a little fun?”

  “No.” I leaned against a shelf of potted ferns. “Being a fairy or a nymph comes with important responsibilities. Just like having magic comes with responsibility. You’ve hurt your family and mine with this nonsense.”

  The goat next to her bleated as if to agree.

  I’d kept my tone even and low. Surprisingly, the anger I’d felt earlier had vanished the moment I’d found her. I’d been more relieved than anything to find her safe. Hearing her dissatisfaction with being a nymph bothered me. Is that how I came across to those close to me?

  “What are you going to tell my parents?” she asked.

  “I’m not sure yet.” Maybe I wouldn’t have to tell them anything. After all, I’d handled the situation before it’d gotten too much out of control.

  The door to the greenhouse opened and Ash, Indigo, and Heath rushed inside. Iris hobbled behind them. Amaranth poofed beside me, his scowl dark with an underlying hint of relief.

  “She’s fine,” I started before anyone could say anything. “Everything is fine.”

  I moved to Iris and tapped her head to restore her to her former glory. Once she did a full body check with her hands, she balled her fists and rushed toward Leaf. Heath caught her and pulled her to the entrance of the greenhouse.

  “Leaf, you shall be confined to your room until your parents return. Amaranth, gather the staff with the strongest wand magic and have them start fixing the castle one room at a time. If we hurry and work together we’ll have it all done before the kings and queens return from their journey.”

  “She hasn’t learned her lesson,” Ash grumbled.

  “Maybe the lesson wasn’t hers to learn this time.” I rested a hand on his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I would appreciate it if we kept this to ourselves and didn’t involve our parents. Amaranth will inform the guards and staff to keep this evening’s events to themselves, and I trust my people to do as asked.”

  Ash nodded. “I will agree to this.”

  Leaf blinked hard and walked toward the door, Indigo close at her side. Ash nodded to me and followed.

  “I think she’s getting off too easy,” Amaranth said once we were alone in the greenhouse. “But I admire the way you’ve handled everything.”

  My cheeks swelled as I blew out a breath that relieved a mountain of tension. “She’s a child and a mischievous one at that. This won’t be the last time she tests her family. At least next time it won’t be here.”

  “There’s one thing we agree on.” Amaranth towered over me. “Which is after tonight we shall never, ever speak of this Halloween mishap ever again. Ever. Your dad would banish me if he knew you performed witchcraft.”

  “I didn’t mind being a witch.” And I’d proven I could solve a major problem by myself. My parents were wrong to think that I needed to be protected and not allowed the same responsibilities as the other fairy godparents in my kingdom. All I needed was a plan to show them.

  With a wink at Amaranth, I poofed out of the greenhouse. I still had candy corn and spiced pumpkin punch to enjoy.

  Did you enjoy meeting Juniper and her fairy friends? Want more? You’re in luck! All’s Fairy in Love and Murder is the first full-length Fairy Godmother Mystery. Find out what happens when Juniper sneaks out of her kingdom and into the human world. Available now on Amazon and in the Kindle Unlimited
program.

  K.M. Waller aka Kizzie Waller lives in Florida with her husband, two kids, and their popcorn-loving hermit crab. When she’s not reading, writing, or chasing her kids around the house, she loves to binge television dramas and mysteries.

  If you ever see her in person, feel free to ask if she believes in fairies and witches and all things that go bump in the night.

  Follow K.M. Waller online at:

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorkizziewaller/

  Instagram: @kizzie_waller

  Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/k-m-waller

  Semisweet Surprise

  Stephanie Damore

  Life’s funny.

  One minute you're living it up and the next you're seeing dead people.

  Nick London told me he’d love me forever, and I guess he meant it because now my husband’s ghost is popping up everywhere.

  And his isn’t the only one.

  Either I’ve lost my mind or the dead have something to say.

  Regardless, it’s a mystery.

  One that I intend to solve.

  1

  The air chilled in front of me, and I shivered, stepping back further into the steamy spray of the shower. My hair was full of suds and my eyes closed as I tipped my head under the water. It was going to be a drafty winter if I didn't get the apartment windows sealed and the radiator serviced. It was only fall, and the bathroom was already drafty. Or maybe the hot water heater had given out once and for all.

  I stood completely under the shower head, but the chill remained. Goosebumps rose on my arms and heaven help me if I didn't feel like someone was watching me. I realized that was a ridiculous thought. I lived alone these last few months in the apartment above my bakery that I had shared with my late husband, Nick. We had tackled remodeling the bakery first and had planned on hitting the upstairs next, but that never happened. The apartment, full of so many happy memories, now felt empty just like my business downstairs. I hadn't felt like baking anything, let alone running a business since Nick died, but I knew sooner or later I would have to get back in the kitchen. I had bills to pay and those weren't going away no matter how much I wished it. Which was why Ellen, who was more motherly than my own mom (not that Caroline Sinclair didn't love me in her own way), was on her way over this morning to clean and help me get ready to re-open--whether my heart was in it or not. I couldn't live off Nick's life insurance forever.