by Jinty James
“It’s not fair!” they heard her tell the mayor. “They’re here. Why can’t I be here?”
“Because you can’t,” the mayor told her, looking uncomfortable at her display of temper. “If you want to apply for a permit, then fill in the paperwork and submit it. But you already have your café on the other side of the square.”
“You won’t hear the last of this!” Claudine shook her finger at him as she stomped toward her café, leaving her table behind.
“Phew!” Suzanne flopped on a stool. “I’m glad that’s over.”
“I hope it is,” Maddie said, watching Claudine depart. The mayor also seemed to be watching the older woman head toward her café, before turning around and giving Maddie a wave as he left the square.
“She’ll probably send one of her employees to pack up her table,” Suzanne said, stroking Trixie.
“Probably,” Maddie replied. To her knowledge, Claudine only employed one part-time barista.
“I wonder who made the complaint?” Suzanne furrowed her brow. “Whoever it is, we owe them a drink on the house!”
“We certainly do,” Maddie agreed.
“Mrrow,” Trixie purred.
“Aren’t we lucky the mayor has a soft spot for you, Trix?” Suzanne continued stroking the feline. “Otherwise ...”
“We might not have been so fortunate,” Maddie said ruefully. She paused as a sudden thought struck her. “Trixie, you didn’t use any magic on the mayor, did you?” She kept her voice down, even though there weren’t any customers in sight.
“Mrrow!” Trixie sounded affronted at the idea.
“Well, I didn’t really think so,” Maddie replied to her familiar.
“But wouldn’t it have been cool if she had?” Suzanne’s eyes sparkled. “I wish I had magical powers like you two.”
“I don’t have that many,” Maddie said ruefully. “Apart from the Coffee Vision spell.”
“And the Tell the Truth spell, Escape Your Enemy, Move an Object—”
“Okay, okay,” Maddie said hastily. She loved Suzanne, but her best friend could get a little carried away. Sometimes Maddie worried that one day someone would overhear them talking about magic and either tell the whole town or want to know more. Maddie didn’t want to deal with either possibility.
Her parents didn’t know she had magical abilities.
Neither did her boyfriend, Luke.
She knew she should tell him sometime, but they hadn’t been dating that long. He was Suzanne’s older brother, so she’d first met him when she’d been in middle school, but their relationship was new and something she didn’t want to endanger by telling him the one thing about her – and Trixie – that he didn’t know.
But she didn’t want to have to hide it from him forever – did she?
An influx of customers kept her busy for the rest of the morning. Since Claudine’s stand had been shut down, they had more orders for iced coffee than they’d had yesterday afternoon – something Maddie was grateful for.
By the end of the day, she was beat. Suzanne must have felt the same way because she flopped on a stool as soon as they closed the serving hatch in the late afternoon.
Trixie snoozed on her stool, seeming content now that nobody – such as Claudine – was shouting their wares.
Maddie just hoped that tomorrow everything would go back to normal – plenty of customers and no Claudine.
CHAPTER 2
Maddie’s hope turned out to be wishful thinking.
The next day started out like any normal weekday. Trixie had decided to stay at home. The Persian came to work with her most days, but sometimes she seemed to need a day to herself.
Maddie knew the feeling.
Maddie – and Suzanne – kept an eye on Trixie when she was home alone by checking the live camera feed on Maddie’s phone. Mostly, Trixie sat on the sofa and guarded Wytchcraft for the Chosen, Maddie’s ancient spell book.
The morning rush went smoothly, although some of their customers remarked on Trixie’s absence, and asked Maddie to say hello to her for them.
Maddie and Suzanne had decided to buy their lunch for a change, from the salad shop across the square. Maddie felt guilty for closing the truck for ten minutes, but they’d agreed that they deserved a short break, especially after the events of the past two days.
“Maybe we should cross to the other side of the street,” Maddie said as they neared Claudine’s café, a cool breeze ruffling her hair.
“Nonsense,” Suzanne replied briskly. “She didn’t have a problem setting up right next to us yesterday or the day before, so why should we be afraid of walking past her coffee shop? We have a perfect right to use this bit of sidewalk, just like everyone else in town.” Suzanne straightened her spine and marched ahead, as if daring anyone to stop her.
“It’s just a feeling,” Maddie murmured. Sometimes she received whispers of intuition – another aspect of her modest witchy abilities.
They reached Claudine’s café without incident. Just as they were about to walk past the entrance, the door opened with a rush.
“Stop right there!” Claudine emerged from the shop with a glower on her face. “I want a word with you two!”
“Me too!” An older version of Claudine strode out of the café. She was taller, and her figure was thinner, but her hair was the same brunette shade as Claudine’s. The newcomer’s expression was sharp with a hint of malice, but anyone looking at the two of them could tell they must be related.
“My cousin told me all about your shenanigans,” the newcomer continued, scowling at them.
Maddie and Suzanne exchanged a wary look. Surely the woman couldn’t be talking about ... magic?
“What did you say to the mayor?” Claudine demanded.
“Nothing,” Maddie replied, relief in her tone.
She was aware of curious glances directed their way from the couple of customers inside the café, and passersby on the sidewalk. But no one stopped to enquire what was going on, or to help them escape from Claudine and her cousin.
Not that they needed help. Maddie squared her shoulders, determined to be as polite as possible. Hopefully that would work in getting them out of here ASAP.
“Is this your cousin, Claudine?” Maddie smiled tentatively at the older woman.
“Yes. I’m Veronica,” the woman said. “And Claudine’s told me all about you two. How you used to work for her—” she sniffed “—until you quit and set up in opposition to her.”
“It wasn’t quite like that,” Maddie said, then wondered if it actually was. She’d never thought of it in that light. She’d been miserable working for Claudine as a barista, and when Suzanne had suggested they start up their own business with a coffee truck, she’d been dubious at first. But Suzanne had been right to persist (or nag). Maddie had never been happier.
“There are a lot of people in this town who need coffee,” Suzanne said. “We’re providing a service.”
“Just like I was yesterday.” Claudine frowned. “I was providing an iced coffee service. Until you shut me down.”
“The mayor said he’d received a complaint,” Maddie put in. “And it wasn’t us,” she hastily added.
“We’re going to find out who it was,” Veronica said, her eyes narrowing. “And when we do – they better watch out!”
Maddie’s eyes widened at the venom in the older woman’s voice. She did not want to be on the receiving end of that.
“My cousin runs the best café in town,” Veronica continued. “You girls better remember that.”
“It’s the only café in town,” Suzanne snapped back, “and there are plenty of people who prefer our coffee to hers.”
“Suzanne,” Maddie hissed. She didn’t want the confrontation to get worse, and she knew how Claudine and now apparently Claudine’s cousin got under her bestie’s skin.
“We won’t delay you any longer,” Maddie said in what she hoped was a conciliatory tone.
“Yeah!” Suzanne looked like sh
e wanted to say more, but swallowed hard and strode down the street, not even checking to see if Maddie was with her.
Maddie smiled tightly at Claudine and Veronica, and hurried after her friend.
Once they reached the salad shop, Suzanne turned to Maddie. “I’m sorry, Mads, I know I shouldn’t have lost it back there, but that woman – oooh! I’m just sorry I didn’t have a better comeback.” Maddie was surprised that steam wasn’t billowing out of Suzanne’s ears.
“I know,” Maddie replied, “but I think we should be careful. We don’t want to rile Claudine any more, and now she has her cousin—”
“She seems even worse than Claudine.” Suzanne wrinkled her nose. “I definitely wouldn’t want to get on her bad side.”
“You mean we aren’t on her bad side already?”
Suzanne laughed, her sunny nature resurfacing. “Let’s just try and forget about them – now that Claudine can’t set up next to us, hopefully the whole thing will blow over by tomorrow.”
THAT AFTERNOON, ONE of their regular customers stopped by for an iced coffee.
“I’ve been meaning to try these,” Pamela told them. Around fifty, she looked fit and trim, with short, layered sun-streaked hair.
“They’re awesome,” Suzanne enthused, taking their customer’s money.
“Where’s Trixie?” Pamela peered through the serving hatch.
“She’s having a day at home.” Maddie looked up from the machine with a smile. “I’ll be sure to tell her you stopped by.”
“You do that.” Pamela smiled. “She’s such a dear little thing. Seeing her when I come by for a coffee brightens my day. And I need some cheering up today, after seeing ... her.”
“Who?” Suzanne leaned forward to get the scoop.
“Veronica.” Pamela wrinkled her nose, as if she could smell something rotten. “I nearly fainted when I saw her in town yesterday. And then she greeted me as cool as you please, when—” she shook her head, her mouth tightening.
“Milk and cream?” Maddie asked, sensing that the older woman might need some whipped cream therapy.
“Please.” Pamela nodded.
Maddie made sure to put a healthy squirt of cream on the beverage, almost as much as Suzanne had put on hers yesterday.
“What happened?” Suzanne asked curiously. If she saw Maddie’s frown, she ignored it.
“I know it’s a long time ago but—” Pamela shook her head. “Some things you just don’t get over. And I’m sure most people would think it’s quite trivial in the scheme of things, but to me—” she sighed.
“Here you go.” Maddie placed the iced coffee with its tall mound of whipped cream in front of Pamela, since Suzanne seemed too engrossed in the conversation to realize that Maddie had finished making the drink.
“Thank you.” Pamela’s face brightened as she plucked a straw from the dispenser.
“What happened?” Suzanne’s eyes sparkled with curiosity.
“Maybe I shouldn’t say anything.” Pamela hesitated and took a sip of her beverage. “Mmm.” Her eyes closed. “That is excellent, Maddie.”
“Thank you,” Maddie replied, pleased that she could make one of their customers happy for a second.
Pamela looked around the square as if checking for eavesdroppers, but she was the only person in the near vicinity.
She lowered her voice. “Veronica stole my place on the cheerleading squad – in high school.”
“Oh.” Suzanne looked a little disappointed at the revelation.
“I know.” Pamela nodded. “You probably thought I was going to say something quite shocking. But it definitely upset me at the time – and when I allow myself to think about it, it still does.”
“What did she do?” Maddie couldn’t help herself. “It’s okay, I shouldn’t have asked,” she said hastily.
“I don’t mind telling you girls,” Pamela replied, “as long as you keep it to yourselves.”
“We will,” they chorused. Suzanne mimed zipping her lips shut.
“It was a very small squad.” Pamela took another sip of her drink. “Only four girls. The high school was smaller back then than it is now, so that’s one of the reasons why we had a small cheerleading team. But it was considered prestigious back then to get a spot on the squad.”
“I can imagine.” Suzanne nodded, her ponytail swishing.
“I’d auditioned, and I’d done very well. I was a sophomore and the other three girls were a mix of juniors and seniors. There was only one spot available, and I’d created my own cheer to show them what I could do. The three cheerleaders told me there was only one person after me and to wait outside. All the other girls who had auditioned that afternoon had been told to go home. So I was hopeful that it meant that they’d chosen me, unless the person who auditioned after me was better.”
“And the next girl was Veronica?” Suzanne guessed.
“Yep. I don’t know how good she was, but she didn’t play fair. Afterward, the head cheerleader came up to me and said they would have chosen me but they’d just found out I’d stolen the cheer I’d showed them.” Pamela looked distressed. “That was a big deal back then. Heck, it still is.”
“Veronica told them you’d auditioned with a stolen cheer?” Maddie couldn’t believe it.
“Yep,” Pamela said wryly. “They said they didn’t condone that type of behavior and they’d never allow me on the team – ever. You have no idea how much I cried on the way home. It had been my dream to be on the cheerleading squad and that b–witch ruined it.”
Maddie and Suzanne shared a sideways glance.
“You don’t think she’s really a witch, do you?” Suzanne asked.
“No.” Pamela laughed without mirth. “I was trying to be polite.” She took another sip of her iced concoction. “But that wasn’t all. I was an outcast at school for the rest of the year. Someone blabbed about what had happened, and it wasn’t me. So it was either the other cheerleaders or Veronica who told however many people that I’d auditioned with a stolen cheer. Apart from my best friend, everyone else treated me like a pariah.”
“That’s terrible.” Suzanne looked shocked. “Do you think it was Veronica who tattled? After making it up in the first place?”
“But why would she do such an awful thing to you?” Maddie crinkled her brow, knowing Pamela didn’t mean anything by her witch comment – she hoped. “Why you and none of the other girls?”
Pamela shrugged. “All I could think of at the time was the head girl must have told Veronica that it was between her and me, so she decided to play dirty.”
“I’m sorry,” Maddie said.
“Me too.” Suzanne’s ponytail bounced in sympathy.
“I can’t believe she’s come back to Estherville,” Pamela continued. “When she left straight after high school, I think most of the town breathed a sigh of relief.”
“Really?” Suzanne leaned forward.
“I wasn’t the only person she sabotaged. She stole someone’s boyfriend, and got another girl expelled from school.”
“Wow,” Maddie said softly.
“And I’m sure there’s plenty more stuff like that she did back then, but none of her other victims spoke about it to anyone.”
“We’d better stay out of her way then.” Maddie shot Suzanne a speaking glance.
“Good idea, girls. Stay far away from her.”
“It might be too late.” Suzanne grimaced. “I think we’re already on her radar.”
“Then you better fly low, so she can’t see you.”
CHAPTER 3
The next morning, Luke stopped by the truck. Tall, with auburn hair and gorgeous green eyes, he made Maddie’s heart race.
“Hi, Maddie.” He smiled at her.
“Hi,” Maddie replied breathlessly.
They’d just handled the morning rush and right now, he was their only customer.
Although she and Luke had been dating for a few months now, she still got blushy and flustered in his presence. Suzanne thoug
ht it was cute.
“That will be three-ninety, big brother.” Suzanne held her hand out for the money. “If you want your usual regular latte.”
“No health balls?” He scrutinized the counter.
“No.” Suzanne sounded glum for an instant. “Some of our customers thought the weather was too hot for them. So we’re serving iced coffee and lemon water instead.”
Maddie had already set to work making her boyfriend’s drink.
“We’re still on for tonight, right, Maddie?” Luke handed his sister some cash.
“Yes.” Maddie smiled at him, sure that everyone in the whole world could tell she was blushing right now.
“Mrrow!” Trixie waved a paw in his direction.
“How are you today, Trixie?” His lips twitched.
“Mrrow,” she answered playfully.
Maddie was thankful that Trixie seemed to like Luke just as much as she did. She didn’t know what she would have done if her familiar had disapproved of him.
Maddie handed Luke his drink, wishing she could take a peek at his future. But how could she, when he didn’t even know she was a witch? Somehow, doing the Coffee Vision spell for her unknowing boyfriend seemed different to doing it for an unknowing customer. If she saw something good or bad on the surface of the coffee, she told them in a way that she hoped didn’t raise suspicion that she had witchy abilities.
“What are you two doing tonight?” Suzanne asked, her face alive with curiosity.
“We’re having dinner,” Luke told his sister.
“At that little bistro in the next block,” Maddie added.
“Ooh,” Suzanne sounded wistful. “I wish I had a dinner date with someone.”
“Why not ask Ramon?” Maddie suggested mischievously, immediately feeling guilty when Suzanne’s face lit up, then fell.
“Ramon?” Luke enquired as only a big brother could.
“You know,” Suzanne waved a hand in the direction of Ramon’s salon at the other end of the square. “He’s a masseur. And Spanish. And gorgeous.”