Seven Year Witch

by Samantha Silver

  I felt like I was going to cry. It was stupid, I knew that. But I had wanted so badly to do something nice for Ellie, and I had failed completely.

  “Hey, come here,” Kyran said, making his way toward me and immediately taking me into a hug. “It’s going to be ok. Ellie knows you care about her, even if you don’t get this machine for her today.”

  I still wasn’t used to the fact that elves could sense people’s feelings. It wasn’t mind reading, not exactly, but it was close, and it was always kind of creepy.

  “I wish you could turn that off,” I said, burying my face deep into his chest. “But you’re right. I did want to do this for her.”

  “I can give you the money. Or lend it to you, if you prefer.”

  “No, no way,” I said, shaking my head. “Thank you for the offer. But no, I couldn’t possibly.”

  “Alright, I know you’re proud. But the offer stands. If you ever decide you want to do it, I’m absolutely here to support that.” I knew Kyran had money. In fact, I was fairly certain he was filthy rich. But Kyran was right: I was too proud. Still, I absolutely loved that he offered.

  “You’re the best, you know that?” I said. “I’ll keep it in mind. But so far, this is all the money I’ve saved up that the coven has given me, and it’s not enough to pay for it. I’ll just have to do something else. Maybe find an actual job that pays me,” I laughed.

  “That would probably help,” Kyran said with a smile. We walked back along the pier next to the water, hand in hand. The salt air on my face was definitely helping to make me feel a bit calmer. “Have you figured out what you want to do now that you’ve passed your witch’s exam?”

  “I have,” I said with a nod. “I’ve been thinking about this a lot. The thing is, though, what I want to do isn’t an official job in the paranormal world.”

  “Oh?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “I want to be a vet.”

  “Like the people in the human world who treat animals?”

  “That’s right,” I nodded. “I love animals. I can’t believe we don’t have special Healers dedicated to fixing their ailments.”

  Kyran stroked his chin. “That’s an interesting idea. There are so many witches and wizards with familiars that I can see it being popular.”

  “Right? I just remember how when Mr. Meowgi almost died trying to save me, we had to go to regular Healers. And they did save his life, but it was like treating animals was an afterthought. I want to be the witch people go to when they find an animal in trouble, and that’s what I know about. I just don’t know what I’d need to do to do it. Do I need to become a Healer first? Or can I just open up shop whenever, since it’s not really a job?”

  “That is an interesting question,” Kyran said. “Probably one best asked to Lita. My guess would be that there are going to be certain Healer classes you’ll need to take, but you won’t need to become a full Healer. But you’ll find the paranormal world doesn’t have a lot of stuff designed for taking care of animals. I think most of what you’re going to have to do will be self-study. I can find you veterinary medicine textbooks from the human world, if you’d like.”

  “Would you?” I said gratefully. “Thank you. That would be helpful. Of course I can’t do anything easy, like getting a normal witch job.”

  Kyran laughed. “That’s one of the things I love about you. You’re not afraid to do things your own way. Anyway, I think it’s a good idea. Who knows? Maybe you’ll start a whole new industry in the paranormal world.”

  “I’d be alright with that,” I said with a smile as we reached the pier with the golden boats. “Now, as nice as this day has been, I have to work tomorrow, so I wouldn’t mind getting a little bit of sleep first.”

  “Sure. I thought those potions you’ve been taking were to keep you awake, though?”

  “They are, but Amy says they’ll only work for eight hours or so, and then I’ll crash. So that means right in the middle of the workday.”

  “Ah, that makes sense,” Kyran nodded as we made our way to the boats. I was about to step into one when I stopped, headed over to one of the fishermen, and traded a couple abras for a fresh fish I knew Mr. Meowgi would love before stepping into one of the boats to get back to the portal.

  “Anyway, thanks for coming along. And for the offer,” I said to Kyran, raising my voice over the sound of the surf. The boat itself was silent, which was a little bit disconcerting—the part of me that had grown up in the human world was still more comfortable hearing an engine, even though I knew they could break down, catch fire, and altogether have more issues than magically powered boats. “It was very nice of you.”

  “The offer still stands, if you decide to take me up on it in the future.”

  I smiled, but I knew I never would. I just wasn’t the kind of person who could do that. My parents had always taught me that you didn’t take money from people. I figured that even applied to steady boyfriends that you were in love with.

  But my goodness, was he ever amazing.

  Chapter 18

  The following day went fairly smoothly, although I was so tired it went by in kind of a blur, and I couldn’t bring myself to think about the murder investigation. Tuesday morning arrived, and that had something else to keep my attention: Sara was competing that night in the broom competition, and if she won and Derek came at least third, then Sara would be declared the winner of the entire competition. Heck, even if Sara won and Derek came in second, she would be the winner—she would just share the trophy. I knew how badly she wanted this, and I had to admit, so did I.

  The murder investigation had kept my nerves in check, since I had something else to distract me, but now, today, with the most important day of the broom competition coming up, I spent the entire morning feeling like I was going to puke. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how Sara was feeling.

  She had been up early that morning, sitting on the couch in the living room, going over a list of spells and muttering to herself. At one point I had popped in to see her with her eyes closed, picturing herself flying in a certain way in her head, moving her hands and head in unison as she focused. She was visualizing what she needed to do to win; I had seen her do this before.

  I had decided that she didn’t need the distraction, so I left her alone. The competition began at eight o’clock that night.

  “I’m going to spend the day making dough for tomorrow, if you can handle the customers,” Ellie said to me. “I think we should try to leave here right at four, and then we can come in early tomorrow to get everything ready. But Sara is going to need us.”

  “Agreed,” I said with a nod. “I’ll come and get you if we get a rush I can’t handle, but it should be fine.”

  I didn’t remember much about that day, to be completely honest. I did my best to smile and to help customers as well as I could, but my mind was on the match the entire time. A few people told me to wish Sara luck, which I thought was nice. I knew the entire community was going to be watching the competition tonight. After all, the broom riding competition had become one of the hottest new sports in the paranormal world, and the people competing in it were quickly becoming bona fide celebrities.

  Four o’clock couldn’t come fast enough, and as soon as it did and I closed the door, Lucy looked at us with a smile. “I assume you guys are heading out straightaway?”

  “We are,” I nodded. “Time to make Sara the priority for the next few hours. We’re going to leave everything a mess, but it’s ok, we’ll come in early tomorrow to clean it all up.”

  “Oh, I’ll clean it all for you, that’s not a problem,” Lucy said with a smile. “Go and be with Sara. Wish her luck from me. We’re all cheering for her.”

  “Thank you so much,” I replied gratefully to Lucy, and a few minutes later, Ellie and I were on our way home.

  We found Sara pacing around the house, muttering to herself.

  “Thank goodness you’ve come back,” Mr. Meowgi said to me, rushing over as soon as
Ellie and I walked through the door. “This friend of yours has gone insane.”

  “Hey, Sara?” I said, making my way over to her. She was currently walking through the kitchen between the counter and the island. She looked up with a start as soon as she heard me call her, like she hadn’t heard us come in.

  “Oh. Tina. It’s you. And Ellie. Sorry, I can’t chat. I need to get ready for tonight.”

  “You need to stop acting like a crazy person, that’s what you need,” Ellie said, making her way to the fridge. “When was the last time you had anything to eat?”

  Sara looked at Ellie, obviously incapable of answering the question. “Alright, well, you need to get some food into you before the competition tonight,” Ellie said, pulling out some leftover Bolognese and throwing a pot of water on the stove to cook up some pasta. If there was one of us who was great at taking on the role of surrogate mother, it was Ellie.

  I did my part and guided Sara over to one of the stools, where she sat down before burying her head in her hands and starting to sob.

  “I can’t do this, you guys. I thought I could do this. I told myself I could do this. But I can’t.”

  “You absolutely can,” Ellie replied firmly. “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m so scared. What if I fail? What if I lose? What if I can’t do this for Diane?”

  “Look at me,” Ellie ordered, and Sara paused for a second, but eventually she took her hands from her face and looked up at Ellie. “Whatever happens tonight, you haven’t failed. The worst-case scenario is that you come in third overall in one of the biggest new competitions in the paranormal world, against all of the world’s best broom riders. That’s not failing.”

  Sara nodded slowly. “I guess.”

  “And besides, even if you do consider not winning to be a failure, do you know what will guarantee that you’re going to fail? Not showing up at all. You forfeit that match, you’re in third automatically. What’s the point of trying if you’re just going to give up at the last second?”

  “I’m just so scared. Scared that I’m not going to manage it.”

  “Fine. So be scared. Then do it anyway.”

  As far as I was concerned, Ellie should have been a motivational speaker.

  The words definitely worked; Sara perked up on the stool as Ellie poured pasta into the bowl of boiling water.

  “You know what? You’re right. I can do this.”

  “That’s right,” I said. “You’ve done this every single other time. It’s not an accident that you’re currently tied for second place, and it’s not an accident that you have a chance to take over the league and win this whole thing tonight.”

  “And I will win it,” Sara said, her jaw hardening. “I have to. For Diane.”

  “Good,” Ellie said. “You’re going to eat this bowl of pasta, and then we’re all going to go to Desert Plains to make sure you’re absolutely at your best for tonight.”

  Ellie stood by and watched like a hawk to make sure Sara ate the entire bowl of pasta—“you need to keep your energy levels up”—and when she was finished, Sara was looking a little bit more like herself again, and less like she was about to pass out at any second.

  Sara had her bag already packed and ready to go, so the three of us made our way to Desert Plains. As soon as we exited the portal, Sara was immediately surrounded by people. A deafening roar came up from the crowd, and I had to resist the urge to put my hands over my ears. Now, this wasn’t completely new. All of the competitors arrived through the portal, and most weeks there were people—most of them fans—cheering their support when we arrived. But this was different. Whereas normally it was a handful of people, tonight it had to be hundreds. At least.

  “Sara! We love you!”

  “You’re the best, Sara! Take names tonight!”

  “You’re going to lose! Neptune forever!”

  I could quickly see Sara becoming overwhelmed once more, so as soon as Ellie and I bundled our friend into one of the carriages that transported people around, I pulled out my wand. “I’m going to cast an invisibility spell on you when we get to the stadium,” I said.

  “That’s probably a good idea,” Ellie said with a nod. “That was quite the crowd out there.”

  “Yeah,” was all Sara managed to reply. She was starting to look a bit green around the gills again. If Sara was going to win tonight, she was going to have to embrace the pressure.

  “You’re going to be fine,” I told her. “You’ve done this a thousand times before. We’re going to get into the stadium without anyone seeing you, and you’re going to do the same routine you always do, and then you’re going to kick butt.”

  “Ok, but promise me one thing.”

  “Anything.”

  “When this is over, I want to go out and say hi to the people outside the stadium. Honestly, I don’t like sneaking past them. I mean, they’re fans, if not of me, then of the sport, and I don’t want to be that stuck-up person who doesn’t say hi to anyone.”

  Sara was such an absolutely wonderful human being. Sometimes I just couldn’t believe it. Even during this, one of the most stressful times of her life, she was still thinking about other people.

  “Deal.”

  When the chariot stopped in front of the stadium, I cast the invisibility spell on Sara, and the three of us walked into the building, avoiding the hordes of people who saw Ellie and me as nobodies and left us alone.

  “Alright,” Sara said when I reversed the spell. “Thank you guys for bringing me over here. If you wouldn’t mind, I want to go through my pregame routine on my own.”

  “Of course,” Ellie said with a nod. “Whatever you need. We’ll be around, so if anything comes up, just send us a text and we can help. But if we don’t see you, good luck. Not that you’re going to need it. You just fly like you know you can fly, and everything will be fine.”

  “Thanks,” Sara smiled. “I really appreciate everything all of you have done for me through this whole process. You have no idea. Whatever happens tonight, the two of you and Amy deserve as much credit as I do. Probably even more.”

  “Not a chance,” I said with a smile, shaking my head. “We might’ve given you a nudge in the right direction, but you’re the one who’s out there flying your broom like you were born with it beneath you.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t be here without you,” Sara said. “I really appreciate that. I wanted you to know.”

  With that, Sara gave me and Ellie a quick hug and headed off toward her personal dressing room. “Catch you on the flip side,” she said with a smile, waving both hands at us. I couldn’t help but wonder if the next time we saw her she would be the broom competition champion.

  Chapter 19

  “Great, now I’m nervous as anything and there’s nothing to distract us,” Ellie said with a laugh as Sara disappeared from view.

  “No kidding,” I replied. “Why don’t we grab something to eat, and then we’ll meet up with Amy. That should kill enough time before the competition starts.”

  The two of us went to a small Chinese food restaurant, where Amy eventually met us, and around half past seven, we made our way back to the stadium, none of us talking. I knew all three of us were insanely nervous right now, and I hoped Sara was managing to keep a handle on her nerves down below.

  We were on the list to sit in the friends and family section of the stadium. It was a special area, separated from the rest of the seats, right at the top of the huge building. Because it was a broom flying competition and most of the action happened in the air, being furthest from the floor actually gave us the best view, and being in the center of the arena allowed us to see everything that was happening.

  There was also an enclosed room behind the seats filled with couches, screens that showed the TV feed of the event, finger food, and drinks.

  As soon as we were led in by an usher, Ellie headed straight for the drinks and poured herself a shot of tequila, downing it in a quick gulp.

  “If I ever have
a kid who’s this good at anything, I’m going to become an alcoholic. Just letting you all know ahead of time,” she said. “I don’t think I can handle this anymore. If I sit in the corner and curl myself up into a little ball, can one of you let me know what happened when it’s all over?”

  “Come on, let’s go and watch,” I encouraged Ellie with a laugh. Although, to be honest, I kind of wanted to have a drink myself, just to take the edge off. The three of us made our way to our seats, and Amy began talking about the murder investigation.

  “What do you think the next step is?” she asked, and I shrugged.

  “Honestly, I don’t have a clue. I’m really stuck, and I don’t know where to go from here.”

  “It would figure that this might be the first murder investigation we’ve gotten ourselves involved in that we don’t end up actually solving,” Ellie muttered.

  “Hey, I said I didn’t know where to go from here, not that I was giving up,” I said. “You keep making those delicious cinnamon buns, and I’ll eventually find somebody who knows something. We’ll find the killer.”

  “I hope so,” Ellie said.

  So did I. To be completely honest, I was starting to lose hope that I would ever find some sort of new lead that might help me figure out who had done it. I had a few suspects and some speculations, but that was it.

  All of a sudden, the entire stadium went dark. A gasp arose from the thousands of people in the seats around us, and a moment later, a beam of light appeared in the center of the stage, where Eli, the manager of the broom competition and the showman host, suddenly appeared.

  It was happening. The competition was about to start.

  Eli waited for a moment for the sounds from the crowd to dissipate, then spoke, his voice magically enhanced to boom around the stadium. “Wizards, witches, vampires, fairies, shifters and elves. Welcome, one and all, to the finale of the most exciting event in the paranormal world.”

  He paused for a second, and the entire audience duly burst into cheers and applause. Once they died down once more, Eli continued. “It has truly been a wonderful season, and tonight it culminates with the most exciting finale you have ever seen. We have two competitors tied for second place, and one who is ahead of them by ten points. Any of those three could be declared the overall champion tonight. And there is a fourth ready to put a spanner in their plans. Are you ready to celebrate the best broom rider in the paranormal world?”