by Gemma Jace
LUNA EXPLAINED TO MARY how the potion from her book worked for Rusty but worked the opposite for herself. Mary sent Emma and Jimma to the hotel to collect their things, stating that she needed to see the spell book to see exactly what they had done to cause the cure to go so terribly wrong. The girls left and returned within the same hour with all of their things, including Luna’s backpack with the book inside.
“I must admit, I have never encountered a potion that claimed to be the cure for the curse. Frankly, I’m fascinated.” Mary sat down at a large oak dining table.
“Here are the ingredients we used.” Rusty took off his satchel and emptied the contents on the table, picking out the ones they used, and slid them to Mary.
Mary flicked the pages of the book back and forth from the baldness cure to the curse cure. “So, the only difference between these two potions is the lock of noble hair and the seaweed, so that means the problem is with the hair.” Mary opened the tin and pulled out the lock of black hair. “Whose hair is this?”
“It’s old man Castleberry’s hair,” Rusty said.
“I can assure you, this is not the hair of any old man, let alone old man Castleberry’s silver hair,” Mary said.
Rusty inspected the hair. “Luna, where did this hair come from?”
Luna swallowed, feeling a hint of guilt about the way she took the hair from the young man at the castle.
“I got it from Count Castleberry’s nephew.”
Mary and Rusty looked at one another. “Who?” They both said in unison.
“I met his nephew on my way to the Count’s room. He said that Count Castleberry was his uncle, so I figured it would be better to get a lock of hair from a young count rather than an older count.”
“I think she’s talking about the Count’s step-nephew. I met him once when I delivered medication.”
“The tall guy that whistles all the time?”
“That’s him,” Rusty nodded.
“He’s not of royal blood, Luna. That’s why your potion backfired.”
“You were supposed to get the hair from the Count’s hair brush, Luna,” River said, putting his hands on his hips.
Luna sat and put her face in her hands. She couldn’t believe she had made such a stupid mistake. “Please tell me you can help me reverse what I’ve done.” She looked at Mary.
“I can’t make any promises. I honestly don’t know how you were able to make these potions work in the first place. Usually only a wiccan can wield the power of these types of potions properly.”
“I didn’t exactly do things properly.”
“But you kind of did. With the right ingredients, you made Rusty grow his hair back. And I suspect you would have cured your curse if you had the right ingredients.”
“Are you saying that Luna is an actual wiccan?” Rusty said.
“It is possible. Maybe that’s the reason the book found its way to her,” Mary said.
“Wow. Wait until Grandma finds out you’re a wiccan, she’ll be beside herself,” River said.
“It was an accident that I found the book. There’s no way I’m anything as special as a wiccan.”
“My dear, there are no such things as accidents. Everything happens the way it should. You must learn to understand this as a new wiccan.”
Luna couldn’t understand how she, of all people, could be a wiccan. Surely Miss Mary had made a mistake. And the part about everything happens the way it should, was just crazy.
There was no way she should be white.
“Now the question is, where can we find someone with noble blood here in Coastal City?” Rusty asked.
“There are only two people in town that have noble blood in them. Their great grandfather was an Earl.” Mary said.
“Who?” Luna asked, suspecting she knew the answer to the question already.
“Theo and Cleo.”
Everyone in the room paused and stared at Miss Mary. No one knew what to say. They had only just escaped the brother’s basement dungeon.
“That guy’s an ass.” River said, breaking the silence.
Emma and Jimma snickered.
“You mean I’m going to have to lure Cleo to me and somehow get a lock of his hair?” Luna’s question was more for herself than the others. She wasn’t sure if she would be able to. The man was a psychopath with a lot of power in town.
“No way, Luna. That guy is crazy. There is no way you should ever be around him again.” Rusty said.
“He’s right,” Mary said. “He is way too dangerous and obsessed with you. You should go back to Castleberry and get the hair you need.”
“We can’t. We leave for the Eastern Isles tomorrow.” River said.
Luna stared at River. She promised him she would go with him to the Eastern Islands, but it was becoming clear that she would have to break that promise to him, and in doing so, break his heart. At least he had Rusty now. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes once again.
“Don’t give me that look. You are coming with me. I won’t accept you saying you’re going back to Green Brook.” River pointed at her. “Do you hear me?”
Luna couldn’t say anything, or even look away, for if she did, the tears would surely fall. She loved her best friend so much; she couldn’t think of how horrible life would be without him in Green Brook.
“What about the kids?” Rusty asked. Luna and Mary had filled him in on all the sick things that Cleo had been up to on the carriage ride to Mary’s home.
“What kids?” River said. By him being the driver of the getaway carriage, he had missed out on some information.
“The kids that Cleo sired with the two cursed girls who work there.”
“He did what?”
“He has a kid with the two girls. He keeps them locked away from the girls to make them stay and work for him. We can get the hair from his kids... once we rescue them.”
CHAPTER 9
RUSTY’S PLAN WORKED. He sent the twin girls to spread the word that Luna and Miss Mary were seen shopping for traveling cases in downtown Coastal City. They waited and watched outside of the Hickman mansion as Cleo and his four goons left riding chestnut-colored horses.
“He’s gone. Let’s go in through the kitchen,” Mary said, leading the way to the back of the house.
“What about Theo? He wasn’t with his brother,” Luna asked.
“Theo won’t be a problem. He doesn’t know what his brother is doing. He’s the good brother.”
“How can he not know what’s going on inside of his own house?”
“Sometimes we choose not to see what’s right in front of us.”
They went through the kitchen and up the servant’s staircase all the way to the fourth floor, encountering no one. The once music filled bright mansion full of people was now dark, quiet, and empty.
Mary stopped in front of a door painted with blue and pink polka dots.
“This is the room he keeps the children in. Rusty, do you think you can pick this lock?”
Rusty dug down into his satchel and retrieved the flower hair pin and his tweezers. “Watch me work.”
“Miss Mary? What are you doing here?” A youthful voice said from behind them. It was the cursed servant girl from the masquerade party. The one who was trying to warn Luna. “You shouldn’t be here. If Cleo catches you, there’s no telling what he’ll do.”
“We’re here to rescue you and the children.” Miss Mary went to the girl and hugged her. “Where is your cousin?”
“I’m here, Miss Mary.” The other girl peeked out around the corner.
“Got it!” Rusty said as he opened the door.
The two cursed girls rushed inside, knocking Rusty out of the way. Luna could hear the children call out to their mothers. The blue and pink pattern of the door carried over into the room. There were toys all over the floor and a big white rocking horse in the corner. Both of the children looked to be around five years old. The girl wore a frilly pink dress with a pink ribbon in her curly r
ed hair, and the boy wore blue shorts with a jacket to match and a blue cap covering his dark curls. They were perfect.
“We have to go before Cleo gets back,” Mary said.
They scurried to the back staircase and shuffled their way down to the kitchen and out the door. They ran all the way through the woods, not even looking back, until the two girls stopped near a fallen white ash tree where another pathway through the forest began.
“Why are you stopping here?” Mary asked.
“This is the path to the train station. This is the way for us to go. The train should leave soon.”
The train whistle blew twice.
“It’s not safe at the station. Cleo might be there looking for me and Luna.”
“We are going home, Miss Mary. Six years we spent in this town trying to find a way back home with our children. My mother hasn’t seen me since I was thirteen,” the younger girl said.
“And mine hasn’t seen me since I was fourteen,” the older girl followed.
Mary put her hand down in her bosom and pulled out a wad of money. “Here, take this and buy your tickets and some food for you and the little ones.”
The older girl took the money. “Thank you, Miss Mary. You’ve always been so good to us.”
“I wish I could have done more. I’m sorry I couldn’t take you with me when I left.”
“Don’t be. It was enough you took Emma and Jimma away before what happened to us happened to them.”
The three hugged each other and wept, telling each other they loved one another and promising to take care. The moment passed quickly. Each girl took their child by the hand and started down the pathway.
“Wait... If you don’t mind, we need a lock of hair from one of the children,” Luna said.
The two girls looked at one another, then to Miss Mary.
“Luna is a wiccan, like me. Your children have noble blood flowing through them, like their father. She needs a lock of hair from someone of noble blood. She’s attempting to cure her curse.”
“I can cure you too, if you come to Miss Mary’s house with us,” Luna said.
“You can have a lock of hair for your potion, but we don’t want the cure. All we want is to get on that train heading west.”
The train whistle rang out.
Rusty took out his jackknife from his satchel and handed it to the girl. She cut a small lock of red hair from the little girl and handed the knife and hair back to Rusty. The girls thanked them for having the courage to free them, then headed down the path to the train station, hand in hand with their children.
MARY SET UP A SMALL black cauldron on her stove and helped Luna to recreate the potion from her book. After a while, the content inside of the cauldron thickened and bubble as it turned a bright red color. The aroma of the sweet earthy dragon’s blood filled the air. There was something different about the potion this time. This time, it was going to work.
Mary removed the cauldron from the fire and set it on the table to cool. Luna’s heart raced. This was it. The moment she had been waiting for her whole life. She was just moments away from being the caramel brown color she was born to be. She would leave for the Eastern Isles and never look back.
“I think it should be cool enough to drink now.” Mary took down a silver ladle that was hanging on the wall above the stove. She handed it to Luna.
Luna took the ladle and dipped it deep into the red potion and put it to her lips with no hesitation. She drank down the whole spoonful. The bitter stew slid down her throat like the tomato soup her dad would make for her when she was sick. She closed her eyes, relishing in the thought. The tingling in her body weighed on her. Heavier and heavier, as if gravity itself took residence inside of her. Not able to withstand the feeling, she fell. She could hear her name being called by someone in the distance. Was it River calling to her or Rusty? No, it was neither of them.
She stood up and looked around. How did she get to the orchard back in Green Brook?
“Luna,” the voice called out again.
“I’m here. Where are you?” She wandered through the trees. “Where are you?”
“Over here.” Her father waved to her. He was standing beside the broken limb of the orange tree that Luna had fallen out of only a few days ago.
Luna ran to him. His dark skin was gleaming in the sun. He caught her in his arms as she leaped to him. The clothes he wore felt hard and coarse, like the tree he stood beside.
“Where have you been, Dad? I’ve been looking all over for you.”
“I’ve been here by this tree the whole time. I see you found your gift.”
Luna broke the embrace to look at him. His smile was white and beautiful.
“What gift do you mean?”
“The book. I left it here for you to find when you needed it most. The book belonged to your great, great grandmother. Now it’s yours. Have you used it wisely?”
She held her head down. “I tried to use it to cure my curse, but it turned me white instead.”
“Maybe you didn’t use the book as you should have. Have you used it to hurt others?”
Luna thought about the young man at the castle. “I hurt someone getting one ingredient, but it was just hurt feelings. He’s okay now.”
Her father shook his head. “Luna, you are a wiccan, Wiccans are servants of nature and healing. They use their powers for good, and when they don’t, the magic will backfire on them. Remember this going forward.”
“I will, Father. I promise. But how can I make right what has gone wrong?”
“It will fix itself when you fix yourself.”
“What does that mean?”
“Find your family in the East. I love you.” Her father kissed her on the forehead and waved goodbye as he turned to walk away.
Luna wanted to run after him and tell him not to go, but she was unable to move. She could feel someone shaking her and calling her name. This time she was sure the voice calling to her was River. Her eyes opened to see everyone staring down at her.
“Are you ok?” River asked.
“I saw my father.”
“What?”
“I think she hit her head. Get her up,” Mary said.
River and Rusty hoisted her up from the floor and planted her on the couch.
Luna tried to remember the conversation she had with her father. What was he trying to tell her?
“Do you feel any different?” Rusty asked.
“I don’t think so. Do I look any different?”
Rusty shook his head. Luna looked down at her arms and hands. They were still white, and it was her own fault.
“Miss Mary, my father told me that if I do harm to someone using my wiccan powers, it will turn against me. That’s what happened. He told me to find my family in the East.”
“I don’t understand. You saw your father when you passed out? And who did you hurt?” Miss Mary sat down beside her.
“I hurt Sir Castleberry’s nephew to get a lock of his hair. I told him there was a spider in his hair and he freaked out, and then I yanked some of his hair out. That’s why the potion won’t work on me now. I ruined it, just like I ruined everything.” She laid her head back on the couch and closed her eyes, wishing she could fall down again and get up in the orchard where she could be with her father again. This time, maybe even forever.
River, Rusty, and Miss Mary spent the rest of the evening trying to understand and trying even harder to cheer Luna up.
“Do you have family in the East?” Rusty asked.
“No, not that I know of.”
“Maybe we should go back to Castleberry and apologize to the nephew.”
River shook his head. “We don’t have time. We have to sail to the Eastern Islands tomorrow with my uncle.”
Mary snapped her fingers. “That’s what it means. There is said to be a coven of powerful wiccans who live in the Eastern Islands. That must be what your father meant. You need to find them so they can help you.”
“Do you rea
lly think so?” Luna’s chin lifted.
“I’m not one hundred percent sure, but you’re already headed there, so why not go and see?”
Miss Mary was right. She needed to find the wiccans. They were probably her only chance of figuring out how to reverse her botched cure.
“You should come with us. You shouldn’t stay here with Cleo constantly looking for you.”
“We won’t be staying here, but we won’t be going to the Eastern Islands. The girls and I will be moving to Hawthorn. I had bought a house there and was planning to leave before Cleo caught me while I was out making the final arrangements for our departure.”
“I was born in Hawthorn. It’s a wonderful town. Well, at least that’s what my father always told me. I can’t remember,” Luna said.
“I know. I want the girls to grow up there, free from always looking over their shoulders, afraid that Cleo is going to kidnap them.”
“But they’re still cursed. My family and I had to leave when my skin began to turn white.” She rubbed the tip of her nose.
“The only thing that matters in Hawthorn is how much money you have. Cursed or not, if you’re rich, people love you. Before I left Cleo, I made sure I was rich with his money.”
“Why don’t you give them the rest of the potion?”
“I will, when they get older, and only if they choose to take it. I want them to learn to love themselves for who they already are before they decide to change.”
Sleep came slowly for Luna that night. She laid awake in the comfortable bed in the guest room Miss Mary put her in thinking about the journey ahead. Dread and excitement filled her. She was excited to go search for the coven of wiccans, but she was dreading going on the trip looking the way she looked. She considered just going to Hawthorn with Miss Mary and the twins, but quickly dismissed that idea. She didn’t want the fight with River. He was determined that she was going with him. She would find the wiccan family her father told her about.