by Tonya Kappes
I smacked my hands together, causing them to jump.
“Aunt Helena!” I ran over to her and grabbed her by the arms. “Can you clean up the rest for me? I think if I can hurry back to Whispering Falls, I can get Faith to put something in the paper for all of us to be watchful for such a meeting.”
“Brilliant.” Aunt Helena gasped, flinging her arm out from under her cap, pointing in the direction for us to go.
Mr. Prince Charming needed no coaxing to get out of her sight. He’d already run off the porch and disappeared into the wheat field before Chandra and I even got the door of the Intuition School shut.
“Do you mind if I go visit with a few of my old professors?” Chandra was a talker, and she loved having friends. She was probably the most popular person in the village.
“Of course I don’t. But,” I warned, “you better be at the smudge meeting on time.”
“I’ll keep an ear open for the paper,” she said, referring to how Faith delivered the paper, the Whispering Falls Gazette.
We weren’t going to risk mortals seeing our rituals or anything we did, so we used Faith’s gift of Clairaudience. She was able to hear things that were inaudible above and beyond our other spiritual abilities. She could hear into the future, and if I could get her on board to keep an ear out and put in the paper for the rest of the spiritualists, my plan to help save the life of Chandra Shango, believed to be murdered, just might work.
Mr. Prince Charming didn’t wait for me, and Chandra had stayed back at Hidden Hall A Spiritualist University to visit the professors she knew, leaving me to make my way back to Whispering Falls alone.
The sun was sitting high in the sky, brightly shining over the village. The crispy green color of the trees’ full summer leaves added to the pops of yellow, red, and purple marigold baskets Arabella Paxton had hung from the dowel rods of the carriage lights. The vinca vine spilled over the basket and hung down, exposing the various green color tones.
The sidewalks were filled with tourists, but none of them appeared to be the bird watchers from the Audubon Society.
A Charming Cure was filled with customers, and they all smiled as they uncorked the bottles and put them up to their noses. Being in my shop was an experience I cultivated to make everyone feel happy, even if they didn’t buy anything.
“You’re back so soon.” Faith was behind the register tallying up a customer. “I wasn’t expecting you until suppertime.”
“I’ll be right out.” I held up the suitcase. “I want to put these in the storage room.”
I left her out there to finish up with the customer, and I opened the door behind the counter, where there was a small room that I used for extra storage. There was a small couch and refrigerator for those times when I was so busy that I’d need a nap. I’d even stayed there a few times.
I put the suitcase on the ground and left it to clean out later while the shop was so busy.
“Have you put out the paper today?” I asked, knowing I’d not heard it, when I walked back out of the room.
The paper was only heard by spiritualists who subscribed to it, and I did, but I’d been so preoccupied with receiving the charm and getting the classroom cleaned up, I’d not truly been listening. My head was filled with other things.
“I have had no time. But if you’re worried about the ad you took out, don’t be. It’s going in today.” She brushed her hands together. “Now that you’re here, I can do the paper.”
“Actually…” I glanced around the shop to make sure there were no prying ears. “I need you to tell all spiritualists to be on the lookout for any secret meetings.” I gave her a quick rundown of what had transpired earlier after she showed up at the shop and I ran down to Bella’s Baubles.
“Chandra said that about a ghost?” Faith sucked in a deep breath. Her blue eyes grew as big as the sea. “That’s so sad to think their soul knows they’ve died, but they haven’t…” Her voice trailed off.
“That’s why I think if we be very vigilant, maybe we can prevent it.” I knew it was a long shot, but it was worth a try. “I also want you to call a special smudge for tonight at dusk.”
“You got it.” Faith gathered her belongings and left me to finish the day at A Charming Cure.
Chapter Seven
The day was so long, and the customers had filed in one after the other, making it a great business day. But with other things on my mind and now that Faith had put the paper out, I was busy coming up with the words and rituals I’d use at the ceremony, so the day seemed to drag on.
Mr. Prince Charming was still out and about. I’d yet to see Chandra come back, but I did notice Gerald, Izzy, and Petunia standing outside at dusk, as though they would all go to the smudge ceremony together.
Quickly, I locked the shop door so I wouldn’t have to hurry any last-minute customers. I pulled back the display window curtains to see if Mr. Prince Charming had been prowling around, but there was no sign of him. This usually meant he was hanging down at Glorybee, where I would see Petunia shortly for the smudge ceremony.
I hurried back behind the counter and took in all the smudging sticks hanging down from the bottom of the shelf. They were your typical sage sticks I’d made for the general public. The new trend seemed to be waving the light stick around the house for good juju or something. We, spiritualists, had specific needs for them, and today the need was to protect ourselves and the tourists within our village limits.
I quickly gathered my smudging kit and put it on the counter while I got my cloak on. I eyed the Star Anise Powder potion that was specifically for Paris and threw that into my bag. Then I locked up the shop for the night and headed up the hill where the Gathering Rock was located.
I wasn’t sure when I would run into Paris, but I had to give it to her.
The Gathering Rock was exactly what it sounded like. A big rock with a clearing where everyone stood in a circle.
“June,” Petunia said my name, put her hand on my forearm, and stopped me just as I entered the circle. I looked down and saw Mr. Prince Charming doing figure eights around her ankles. “You and I both know the bird Paris saw was my bird from my shop. It’d come to me a couple of weeks ago. It’s the oddest bird. I know it’s a soul, but I’m not sure of what the soul is about. It’s a weird one. I’m worried they will find the bird and destroy it.”
Petunia bounced up and down on her toes as baby Orin slept in one of those hiking backpacks strapped on her back. Soon, he would be packing her—he was getting so big.
“I don’t think the Audubon Society wants to destroy it but merely take photos of it.” I smiled widely. “What if we stage an all-night camp out in the woods and you have the bird appear, this way they will leave our village after they get their photos.”
“That’s an excellent idea, June,” Oscar concurred and gave me a quick hello kiss. “That way, if the crow flies at midnight, we can see who the meeting is between, if it has to do with the bird watchers.”
“I don’t know.” Petunia gnawed on her lip. “I’ve never left Orin alone at night.”
“This is for the good of our community, and you are the village president.” If Oscar was pulling the leadership card on our president, I knew he meant business and felt there was some evil lurking.
“Fine. I’ll tell Gerald, but he’s not going to like it.” Petunia turned and stalked off with her hands fisted at her side.
“What do you think that’s about?” Oscar asked as we watched Petunia storm off.
“I would like to say it’s about Orin, but I think there’s more to it than that.” I tossed any ideas that might be running through Petunia’s head into the back of my mind so we could get the ceremony started.
“While you do this, I’ll head over to the Full Moon Treesort and tell the Audubon Society members what we have in store for them. You meet me there afterwards?” he asked.
“Yes. But can you first stop by the shop and grab my Treesort Mr. Sandman bag?” I asked him. He readily agreed, se
aling the deal with one last kiss before he headed down the hill and I started laying all the smudging materials on the rock.
The Gathering Rock was its own spiritual entity. I brought the items, but the rock charged them with the right spell needed for the purpose of our meeting.
Carefully, I took out the lighter and lit the smudge stick. I let it sit on the rock to be charged and took out the feather from the bag.
All the spiritualists from the village gathered around in a circle and held hands. The forest animals gathered at the edge of the trees and dipped their noses before they extended their necks to the sky.
“Today we come together to perform a purely preventive smudge. The magical barrier is used to ban negative magic effects from our village and tourists held here.” I talked while I walked into the middle of the circle.
Behind me I held a bottle, sprinkling a thin line of salt. After I made a long line, I used the feather to sweep the salt from side to side. Then I brushed the knife in a horizontal motion three times toward the village.
The smudge stick began to smoke in long streams, letting me know it was fully charged from the rock. I swept across the salt line, creating a dusty tornado as I got the smudge stick. Slowly, I walked in front of my peers, fanning the smoke up their bodies, around their heads, and up through the head chakra to ward off evil. Every few seconds, the winged creatures would fly into our smoke, making it cling to their feathers as they took the evil away into the far-off distance.
Everyone chanted, “Trula trula, open the gates. Your spiritualist are waiting. Trula, trula, open the gates. Your spiritualists await. The time has come to send us the bubble of protection for which the midnight crow flies. Trula trula close the gates, your protection is upon us.”
As the chant grew louder and louder, the animals made their native calls, and the burnt-orange sunset grew a dark red with streaks of heavy gray. A dark cloud with flashes of lightning blanketed the circle of spiritualists. I fanned the smudge stick toward the cloud, allowing it to absorb any and all evil the smoke carried to finalize the ceremony.
“And we all raise our hands to lift the evil and cover us in protection,” I said and put the smudge stick on the Gathering Rock. The smudge stick would stay there until it burned out, then the rock would absorb it as if it were never there.
I made my way back to the circle and broke the chain, where Petunia and Chandra, glad to see I’d made it, stood and took their hands in mine. Collectively, we lifted our hands and bowed our chins with our eyes closed.
After one clap of thunder, we knew it was over and dropped our grip on one another.
Petunia lingered around while I said goodbye to our peers and reminded them to keep an ear out for any sort of private meetings.
“I hope this works.” Petunia looked at me, and the Spangled Smoky Momoko popped his beak out of her messy updo, making Orin giggle. “Not now. It’s not safe.” Petunia tapped the bird, which disappeared back into her hair. “I’m in fear of my feathered friend.”
“I’m wondering if the bird and the Karima sisters’ ghost are connected.” I glanced around to make sure no one was listening. We had no need to create any more fear than we already had with the newspaper report and the smudge ceremony.
“Here is my plan.” Petunia leaned in a little.
Orin stuck his hand out to me. When I took it, he smiled.
“Une,” he giggled trying to say my name.
“J-J-J-J June,” Petunia exaggerated my name for him.
“Une,” he repeated and giggled.
“I’m sorry. He’s having a hard time with his J’s.” She seemed very bothered by it.
“J is very hard to phonetically say,” I told her. “Besides, I like how he says mine.” I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “Soon, you’re going to have to let him walk.”
“He is a darter. It’s made Gerald crazy.” Petunia rarely talked about her home life, and I really enjoyed discussing Orin, since one day I knew I’d like to have a child of my own. Not any time soon. So enjoying Orin as a toddler was a lot of fun.
“He’s a boy,” I said like I knew. “I’ve heard they are very active.”
“True.” She sucked in a deep breath before letting it exit her nose. “Back to tonight. I’m going to let Spangle go on a perch and let him glow.”
“Does he really glow?” I asked, never hearing of such a bird.
“Yes. There’s not been but a few sightings over the past 40 million years.” I thought I heard her wrong.
“Million?” I corrected her.
“Yes. Million,” she said. I stood corrected. “That’s why it’s so rare, June. That’s what worries me about the soul and why a soul would want to come back as the Spangled. I knew once he flew to me, there was going to be trouble, so I’ve kept him in my hair this whole time.”
Everything she told me, I stuck in the back of my head in case I needed to come back to it.
“I’m telling you that if we allow them to get photos, our village will be swarmed with national attention we do not want.” Her tone held a warning. “As the village president, I have to think about what’s best. I’ve called a council meeting.”
“Do you want me to come?” I asked even though I was no longer on the town council, which consisted of Izzy, Gerald, Oscar, Chandra, and Petunia.
“I think it would make sense because Mr. Prince Charming has the ability to know it involves you.” Her words punched me in the gut, making me gulp them back down. “See, how you react tells me that we have to proceed with caution. Plus, I want the council to know what Oscar is expecting and what he’d like to accomplish with the campout.”
“When is the meeting?” I asked. The gray cloud dissipated and gave off the most spectacular star show in the sky. The lightning bugs were so happy as they darted around the woods, showing off their talent.
“Right before ten p.m. at the Full Moon Treesort before we head out for the night of camping.” She had a deep worry in her eyes. “I hope Gerald is going to be able to take care of Orin and get to work in the morning.”
“I’m sure he’ll be fine.” I wanted to make her feel better but wasn’t sure how to do that.
“I’m going to hurry home and give him a bath before Faith comes over to babysit while Gerald and I come to the meeting. Hopefully, a long bath will get him very sleepy.” She sighed and started to walk down the hill.
“I’ll see you soon,” I called out to her. Then I went back the rock to gather my bag.
Madame Torres was glowing deep inside. I opened the bag and pulled her out.
“It’s about time you get me out of there. You’d think after a bird called and made all sorts of noises, you’d keep me out all the time.” The snarky crystal ball’s insides rolled like waves with orange, green, and pink swirls before they parted and Madame Torres’s face took up the whole glass globe. “I’m telling you to grab the Ding Dong from the bottom of your bag and eat it. It’s going to be a long night.”
I held the ball up to my face and took a good look at her. Rarely did she ever tell me to eat a Ding Dong. Often she’d tell me to get rid of Mr. Prince Charming.
I looked deep into her eyes. They were half shut and encircled by purple eye shadow. Her lips lined with red, she spoke, “You’re going to have a long night and we need the sugar to stay awake.”
“Does this have anything to do with the crow at midnight?” I asked.
“The crow will fly at midnight. It’s up to you whether or not you watch for it.” Her face waved until she was one with the orange, green, and pink swirls.
Rowl! Mr. Prince Charming appeared out of nowhere. He stood on his hind legs, batted at the crystal ball in my hands, and then hit the charm bracelet on my wrist.
“You think I’m in danger?” I warned my fairy godcat. “If you were to knock her out of my hands, you’d be in more danger than me.”
“Mew, mew.” It was like he was tsking me. He darted toward the woods beyond the rock. His long white tail swayed b
ack and forth in the dusk. He wasn’t worried.
Why was I? I ran my hand along the charm bracelet, hoping it would give me extra protection on what was going to be a long night.
Chapter Eight
I followed Mr. Prince Charming to the edge of the woods where we’d cut through to get to the Treesort. Normally, I’d go to Glorybee, the last shop in town, next to the trail on which the Full Moon Treesort guests walked to the hotel.
We didn’t let them drive their cars in the woods for fear of pollution or other dangers to our special habitat. They parked in the parking lot next to Glorybee and where Patch’s Pumpkin Patch was located.
Patch wasn’t in town for the summer. He really ran his business in the fall and winter when we had a lot of tourists looking for holiday things to do. As a tourist community, we played up all the holidays, especially Halloween. The ghostly holiday was right up our alley.
“Stop that,” I called out to Mr. Prince Charming as he tried to smack down all the lightning bugs in his way. “They tease you because you get so upset with them.”
It was true. They loved to swarm around his head and annoy him.
“Remember, they are teens.” It was funny to see how he acted toward the youngins, making me wonder just how old Mr. Prince Charming was.
He showed up on Darla’s doorstep on my tenth birthday. It was a day I’d never forget. I had always wanted a cat and a charm bracelet. Darla wouldn’t let me have either one. She insisted that cats were dirty and charm bracelets were too expensive. Of course, we were talking about Darla. She never even bought me a birthday cake with my name on it. She’d go to the local grocery store and get cakes that were never picked up and had other people’s names on them. Or, if she really didn’t want me to know, she’d try to scrape the name off and blend in the icing. The manager’s special sticker was always a dead giveaway, and she didn’t bother peeling it off.