by Tonya Kappes
“Nope. Just showing your cat where you were.” His voice held suspicion. “I guess you got a good idea of how things work around here.”
“I’m not sure what you are talking about.” I channeled my energy into my gut, but my only problem was that I was exhausted from socking Burt in the gut with my mind. I eased down into the desk chair. My energy was zapped. There had to be some sort of quick recovery from the magic I had just done and I was going to have to figure out what that was.
“Ma’am.” A security guard stood at the door. Josh and I both looked up. “Mr. Rossen asked me to escort you out of the building since your new start date is tomorrow.”
Gladly. I grabbed my kit and stuck Madame Torres back in my bag.
“Let’s go,” I told Mr. Prince Charming.
Chapter Six
“Well, that was a quick day of work.” Faith was ringing up a couple of customers at A Charming Cure.
As soon as Burt told me on my way out the door that there was no reason for me to start today since the new packaging was going to start in the morning and the meetings we had on the schedule were postponed until then, I decided to come back to Whispering Falls. I could check on the shop, think about the wedding plans. . .think, and be at Eloise’s on time for dinner.
“They packaged the wrong bottles.” I shook my head and peeled my cloak from around my shoulders and put it on the coat rack next to the door. “I see some of the inventory has moved.”
The shelves on the wall were refilled as I had asked her to, but the labels weren’t facing forward the way I liked. On my way back to the register I went down the shelves and turned the bottles facing forward and arranged a few of the ones sitting on the table displays.
“Hi there.” I greeted a woman standing in front of the sleeping aid display. A top seller for the shop. Her soft blond hair was pulled back at the nape of her neck in a loose bun. I didn’t have to tap into my intuition to know she wasn’t sleeping, the black circles under her pale, thin skin told me. But there was more to it and that was what my intuition told me. “Are you having trouble sleeping?” I asked.
Asking was the only way I was going to be able to get to the root of what she really needed. Over her shoulder I could see Faith was handling the register just fine and Mr. Prince Charming was by her side making sure. This was really a good thing. I was able to focus on the customer while Faith focused on checking the others out.
“I guess.” Desperation set deep in her dull eyes. “I used to sleep so well, but since the baby.” Her voice trailed off.
“Congratulations.” I smiled thinking of Petunia, Gerald, and new baby Orin. “I’m sure the baby is worth all the sleepless nights.”
“Oh, it’s not the baby that wakes me up. I wish it were. The baby sleeps all night.” Her mouth twisted and her eyes darted back and forth like she was keeping something from me.
“I’d love to help you but you are going to have to tell me what is keeping you up.” I knew in my gut there was something else, but nothing was coming to me.
The smell of sweet roses streamed out of her mouth as she talked about her routine and going to bed not too early, but not too late as if I was going to tell her to change her routine.
“Do you love roses?” I asked.
Usually when I smell something coming from a client, it’s because they love that something and I can alter their specific potion with that flavor, but the rose smell was so strong, I felt it was coming from somewhere deeper.
“Why would you ask that?” She blurted, scarcely aware of how loud her voice was.
“I thought I smelled roses. Maybe a perfume?” I smiled trying to get her to trust me.
“No. I hate roses, but my grandmother loved them. Her hand lotion was even rose scented.” Her eyes held a little sparkle as she told me about her grandmother. “I loved my grandmother.”
“Loved?” I asked.
“Yes. She passed before I had Rose,” the intensity in her voice lowered.
“Rose.” I sucked in a deep breath knowing her grandmother was present from the great beyond and knowing I couldn’t help her. Dealing with spirits from the ever after was not my job. “Do you wake up every night at the same time?” I asked making sure I was on the right path with my hunches.
“Three thirty-three every morning. Like clockwork.” She fiddled with her fingers. “I smell her. I smell roses.”
“Rose, your daughter, is named after your grandmother’s love of roses?” I wanted her to figure out where I was going with this.
“Yes. And every since Rose was born, I wake up to smelling roses at three thirty-three when baby Rose has slept through the night since day one. She’s like an anomaly.” Her cheeks had gotten a little more pink in them as she talked about Rose.
“What you need is a good massage with some homeopathic oils. And I have just the cure.” I glanced over her shoulder and caught Faith’s eyes. “I’m going to take her to see Chandra. I’ll be back in a minute.”
“I’m fine.” Faith called, running her hand down Mr. Prince Charming’s back. “We’ve got it covered.”
“If you’ll come with me, I know exactly what will let you get to sleep and keep you there until baby Rose wakes you.” I motioned for her to follow me as we left the shop and went next door to A Cleansing Spirit Spa.
As soon as the doors of the spa opened, the smell of fresh linens and oils spread over us like a wave of water. It was known in the mortal world that spas used machines to pump in the homeopathic smells, but in the magical village of Whispering Falls, every sense, including your sense of smell was exactly what was dear to you deep in your soul.
“It smells like a bed of roses in here.” The young mother took another deep breath, this time a smile covered her lips.
“Howdy do!” Chandra opened one of the spa doors from down the hall and greeted us. She adjusted her pink turban as her eyes zeroed in on the young mother. “Oh, a new mom.”
“How did you know?” The woman pointed to Chandra. “How did she know?”
“We can see all, my dear.” Chandra put her arms around her. The woman tensed, but that didn’t stop Chandra. “Oh, we must get these knots out of your shoulders and get you sleeping.” Chandra walked down the hall with the woman still curled in her arms. She glanced over her shoulder at me. “Thank you, June.” She winked.
Chandra would do exactly what the woman needed. She would read her fortune and massage oils into her body. Obviously her grandmother had something she needed resolved from the afterlife and that was why she was continuing to wake her up in the morning. I also believed baby Rose never woke her mother because grandmother was probably soothing the baby. Unfortunately, I was sure I would see the young mother again because once Chandra revealed to her what the grandmother wanted, the grandmother would be at peace and baby Rose was going to have to be soothed by someone. The young mother.
The day was turning out to be lovely. The temperatures never got too hot in Whispering Falls since we were settled in the foothold of the mountains in our tiny village.
“I’m fine if you want to go on and go visit early with Eloise.” Faith encouraged me to go.
“How did you know about Eloise?” I asked.
“She put an article in the paper about your wedding shower.” Faith’s brows narrowed. “Didn’t you know about that? You didn’t hear the paper?”
“I guess I didn’t.” Now that I thought about it, I didn’t hear the Whispering Falls Gazette delivered to me. Not even in a whisper. “Strange.”
“Strange,” Faith’s voice trailed off. “And everything was okay at the factory?” She questioned with a lingering anticipation of my answer.
“Not fine. Not even okay.” Now I was getting a little irritated. I was hoping to go to Eloise’s and throw her and Oscar a bone about the wedding. I really just needed time to get the new job under my belt before I made any wedding plans. I wasn’t good under pressure, witch or not. “But you don’t mind if I leave?”
“No,
as long as you are paying me.” Faith grinned.
“Of course I am.” I grabbed Mr. Prince Charming off the counter and headed out.
I drove the Green Machine back up to our little cottage on the hill overlooking Whispering Falls with Mr. Prince Charming up on the dash. I loved my little cottage. It had the most spectacular view of the village. Plus it was near The Gathering Rock where we had all of our village meetings and the woods were right behind me, giving me easy access to Eloise and my Aunt Helena.
I didn’t see Aunt Helena much since she was the dean of Hidden Hall, A Spiritualist University, which was clear on the other side of the woods through a secret portal.
She would definitely want to be included in my wedding plans since she was my only living relative.
Meow, meow. Mr. Prince Charming batted the air between us as if he knew exactly what I was thinking.
“You’re right. No time like the present.” It was all I had to say. He jumped off the dash, over me and out the door, darting around the cottage.
He and I both loved going to see Aunt Helena and getting some time in the woods.
I didn’t waste any time. I grabbed my bag and threw it over my head, hanging it across my body and took off in the direction of the secret portal.
The sunlight darted through the tall trees in the woods and the scurry of animals’ footprints could be heard as we made our way through, breaking fallen branches under our feet. Every once in a while, Mr. Prince Charming would look back at me. Like a good fairy-god cat, he was making sure I was okay.
Both of us stopped when we made it to the big wheat field, I knew we had made it to the portal. The wooden sign popped up out of the ground, fingers pointing in all directions. Each had a different school written on it pointing the way.
Eye of Newt Crystal Ball School, Tickle Palm School, Intuition School, Wondering Wizard School, were just a few schools represented at Hidden Hall. I had attended Intuition School when I first found out about my lineage.
“Which way today?” I asked Mr. Prince Charming. No matter what finger I touched, they all led to the University and my aunt, only a different path.
Mr. Prince Charming dotted his tail in the air, pointing to Intuition School.
“Good choice.” I smiled and gently ran my finger across the words. Like magic, a clear path unfolded in front of my eyes. At the end of the path, I could clearly see a small yellow cottage with geraniums, morning glories, petunias, moon flowers, and trailing ivy, a rainbow of colorful explosion in the window boxes under each window. There was a sunny, cheerfulness in my walk to where I was almost running. It felt like another extension of home.
Mr. Prince Charming was a different story. He and my aunt hadn’t really seen eye-to-eye all of these years. I had never really gotten to the bottom of it, but I tried to keep the peace the best I could.
“Narley!” A voice called from ahead.
I didn’t even have to look up to see who had greeted us.
Mr. Prince Charming was already in Gus Chatham’s arms. Gus was a spiritual phenomenon as a teletransporter and clairvoyant medium. Though his shaggy ash-blond surfer-dude hair, brown eyes, lanky six-foot frame and his laid back cargo shirts and tee made him look like a bum.
“Hey!” I waved over my hand and picked up the pace. “How are you?”
We gave a quick hug; Mr. Prince Charming jumped out of the way and did figure eights around Gus’s ankles.
“Dudette.” He grabbed my hand and looked at my ring. “So the getting hitched rumor is true? Our little June is getting married.”
“I guess.” I eased my hand out of his and held it out to see it better.
Oscar had proposed using my mother’s ring. Every time I looked at it, I saw my mother’s hand. We had the exact same hands. Same bumps, same veins, same coloring.
“Oscar is kinda rushing things.”
“Uh, oh. That doesn’t sound so good.” Gus was good at getting to the point. “Tell me about it over a cup of coffee from Black Magic.”
“I would but I’ve got to see Aunt Helena.” Though I wouldn’t mind taking a stroll through the center of the University where all the shops and café were located.
“You’ll have to deal with me for a while. She’s in a chamber meeting with the teachers. Summer meeting thing.” He shrugged. “That’s why I’m here to greet you. I saw the path open and I figured it might be you.”
“I guess I will have that coffee.”
“See you there.” Gus disappeared just like that.
“It must be nice being able to teletransport.” My brow cocked as I looked at Mr. Prince Charming who was already running past the yellow cottage into the center of the University.
The street was a lot less crowded than it had been last time I was here. Granted it was summer and most spiritualists had gone home for the summer, but there was still summer school.
Black Magic Café was a really cool green clapboard house with picnic tables scattered throughout the place, providing plenty of seating.
“Hey, June!” The young guy behind the counter waved and hollered as soon as I walked in. “Gus said you were on your way. Look here.” He pointed to the large chalkboard hanging on the wall behind the counter. “June’s Gems!”
“Oh my gosh,” I gushed when I saw the delicious dessert Raven Mortimer had named after me.
June’s Gems were her version of Ding Dongs, my weakness.
“We were excited to get a deal going with her. She provides us with a lot of the cupcakes too.” He pointed down the row of cupcakes.
“Wicked Good is wicked good,” I laughed. “I’ll definitely have a June’s Gem with a cup of coffee.”
“Coming up! And I’ll bring it over.” He gestured over to a picnic table where Gus was already sitting with Tilly, a girl who worked at Wands, Potions, and Beyond.
It was a store where any student, no matter what gift they had, could get whatever they needed while attending the University.
Tilly and I had started off on the wrong foot when I was going to school here. In fact, she was on Raven’s side. They were Dark-Sider spiritualists. The Dark-Siders and Good-Siders had clearly defined lines. If prompted, Dark-Siders could pull off spells that were not for the common good and mostly didn’t regret it. Times have changed and so had the Dark-Siders’ point of view. I liked to think I had a hand in it since I did help create peace between the two groups, bringing me, Tilly and Raven closer as friends.
“I hear congratulations are in order!” Tilly was sitting next to Gus. She clapped in excitement. Her nails were still painted with black tips and her hair was just as purple as the day I had first met her.
“Yes, it’s true. I’m getting married.” I tried not to be so cheesy and smile so big, but I still couldn’t believe that I was actually going to marry the man of my dreams.
“That is wonderful. I hope we are all invited.” Tilly’s mood was buoyant.
“Of course.” My mind reeled. I hadn’t even thought that far ahead. I was definitely going to have to get a jump on these things. I swallowed hard as fear and uncertainty filled my heart.
“Are you okay?” Tilly asked.
“I’m fine.” I shrugged it off. “I just wish my mom was here to help me with all this stuff.”
“Oh.” Tilly and Gus both looked as though they didn’t know what to say.
“It’s okay. I have my aunt and Oscar’s aunt.” I guess I was glad I had them since Oscar and I were in the same boat, parent-wise. Neither of us had brought up the fact that neither set of parents was going to see us get married.
“Here you go.” The guy behind the counter walked over with a tray full of goodies. “Two red velvet cupcakes and a large glass of milk for you.” He slid them in front of Gus. “A June’s Gem and coffee for you two.”
We sat in silence, stuffing our faces with the sugary treats and burst out in laughter when we realized we probably looked like a bunch of pigs around the picnic table.
“You have white frosting on you
r teeth.” I pointed to Gus, falling over laughing.
He licked his teeth and gritted them toward me. “Better?”
“Yes.” I gasped, holding my hands across my stomach.
“Niece.” Aunt Helena stood over us. Her face drew, cheeks sucked in. Her eyes held a glint of wonder, though dare she ask.
She had on her typical black outfit with red pointy boots. She wasn’t one for tom-foolery. Her face was stern.
“Aunt Helena!” I jumped up and put my arms around her, feeling her thaw a bit. “I was just saying how much I need your help in planning this wedding. I came to invite you to Eloise’s house for dinner.”
“Dinner?” she questioned.
“Eloise is having us over to talk about the wedding.” I put my hands together in the prayer position. “I really need you there. I need your help.”
“This doesn’t have to do with the little snafu at the factory today?” Her flat, unspeaking eyes prolonged the moment.
“Oh.” My voice was a very faint whisper. “We can talk about that tonight too.”
“Yes we will,” she informed me matter-of-factly. “I’ll be there.”
“Great.” I sucked in a deep breath. Something in my gut told me that more than just the two of us realized my little adventure at Head To Toe Works wasn’t going as smoothly as I had promised.
After a few more minutes of catching up with Tilly and Gus, Mr. Prince Charming and I were on our way back to Whispering Falls. The day was quickly getting away from me and I still had to go back to Locust Grove to put a spell on all of bottles Burt Rossen had refused to get rid of.
Chapter Seven
There was no sense in going back through the woods to my cottage before going to Eloise’s house. She lived in the woods and a hop and skip away from the wheat field.
Her house was away from Whispering Falls because of the old village rules of the segregation of the Dark-Siders from the Good-Siders.
Eloise was a Dark-Sider, but with a Good-Sider heart. I’ll never forget the first time I had seen Eloise’s name. It was when I had first discovered Whispering Falls. Darla had kept a journal of sorts for all of her herbal remedies, and it wasn’t until I accepted I was a spiritualist that I could really read between the lines of the journal and see and understand what was there. The journal was really a potion book kept safe by Darla. Since she wasn’t a spiritualist, she wasn’t able to read all the potions and that was why she only did the basic homeopathic cures. . .cures without the magic. Truth be told, Darla had opened her shop in Whispering Falls when I was a baby. She would make the homeopathic cures and let Eloise stick the magic in them. According to Darla’s journal, my father, Otto had become furious with her because of the Dark-Sider stamp on Eloise’s forehead.