by Amy Boyles
“If that’s the truth and you want me to succeed, then I know a way you can do it.”
Her eyes hardened. “Charming, are you brokering a deal with me?”
“I am.” I smiled coyly. “If you want to get me out of Witch's Forge, all you have to do is one thing.”
“And what would that be?”
She would hate it. My mother would absolutely despise what I was going to ask. She’d rather burst into flames than stay in this hick town any longer than she had to.
“Help me find Jimmy.”
I fully expected her to say no. To run out the door as quickly as possible.
Instead, my mother smiled widely. “Why, I’d love to help. What should we do first?”
ELEVEN
What happened next was exactly what I expected. As soon as my mother stepped outside in her flowing pink dress, coupled with her long red hair and the fact that she carried herself like the Queen of Sheba, she was surrounded by a throng of people.
“Are you Glinda Calhoun?” said a sad-looking witch with dark circles under her eyes and frizzy blonde curls.
My mother threaded her fingers together and placed them beside her chin. She tipped her head to the side, plastered on her biggest smile and said, “Why yes, I am. What can I do for you, dear? Besides fixing your hair and making you as beautiful as me, that is?”
I rolled my eyes. My mother believed the entire world needed fixing. She believed beauty made the planet a better place and it was her job to help others—however they needed.
“Tell us how you saved the children of South America from that army of ants.”
A gaggle of folks had arrived by now, enchanted with my mother’s beauty and ability.
“Gather round,” she said, “and I’ll do more than that. I’ll teach you how to use magic to help yourselves.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Looks like she’s got an audience,” Rose said.
I nodded. “She’ll forget all about us. I’m heading out. If you want to stay with Glinda the Good Witch, go for it.”
Rose looked torn. “I’m coming with you. Your mother can take care of herself.”
We slipped away, leaving my mother in her natural element—as the center of attention. I don’t even think she noticed we’d disappeared.
We arrived in Earth Town a few minutes later. It didn’t take long for me to find out where Cap lived—on a farm not far from the pavilion.
I arrived just as Cap was staring at a hay bale. He scratched his head. Rose and I sat in the car watching.
“Think he’s trying to work some magic on it?” Rose said.
I hiked a shoulder. “No telling. Let’s go find out.”
We approached. My heels wobbled on the gravel driveway. I had to walk slowly to keep myself from falling over. Ugh. What I wouldn’t give to get out of this place and return to civilization—where I could get a decent cup of coffee for five bucks and feel the beautiful hardness of concrete underneath my two-hundred-dollar pumps.
“Cap,” I said pleasantly, “I don’t think we had a chance to really talk last night. I’m Charming Calhoun.”
He scrubbed a hand over the stubble on his chin. “I remember,” he said without a hint of interest.
I laughed nervously. I hated it when I had to approach folks who were absolutely not interested in talking to me. It made my job so much harder.
“I understand you used to be involved with Belinda Ogle.”
“What’s it to you?”
I rubbed my lips together. “I was wondering why you broke up.”
“Why do you care?”
“Because I’ve been hired to fix this place. Fix Witch's Forge, and the way I’m doing that is by bringing witches and wizards together.”
“Seems like enough witches and wizards are together. I don’t see how that’s going to save the magic in this town. Look at my hay.”
I stared at the yellow ball of grass. “What about it?”
“Whatever’s taken hold of the center of town is out here, killing the soil in these fields. Won’t be long now before we won’t be able to grow anything. We’ll all have to leave, abandon this place.”
“That’s what I’m trying to stop. I need your help. Look, I’ll tell you straight. Langdon and Belinda were matched to be together.”
“I heard.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “I don’t see it. That guy was nothing but an alcoholic. When she wouldn’t have him, he thought it was my fault.”
I cleared my throat. “Why would he think that?”
“’Cause Belinda and I were together in high school. Then we broke up.”
Cap turned away. “Look, I’ve got work to do. I don’t have time to discuss my private life with some stranger.”
“Is that a potbellied pig?” Rose pointed to a little pink pig with a dark spot over one eye. The swine ate slop from a trough. “I just love potbellied pigs. Can I hold her?”
For the first time Cap smiled. “Sure you want to get your clothes dirty?”
Rose dismissed his concern with a wave. “Oh, I’ll be able to clean up just fine. There’s nothing better than feeling a baby pig’s tongue licking your face.”
“I would disagree,” I murmured.
Cap plucked the pig from the pen and settled it in Rose’s arms. I swear my aunt squealed like a pig with joy.
“Oh Charming, you’ve got to hold her.”
“No.” I didn’t hesitate. “Are you kidding? I’m not holding a pig. I would rather walk through a pit of rattlesnakes than touch that dirty animal.”
Cap’s eyes widened in astonishment.
I cringed. Okay, maybe I shouldn’t insult the man I wanted information from.
“I just mean I’m a city girl,” I said quickly. “I don’t know anything about the country. I barely like dogs or cats, much less a pig.”
The creature’s mud-caked feet pawed the air. There was probably poop on them.
“Swine are one of the cleanest animals around.” Rose cooed to the pig. “You are clean, aren’t you, precious?”
I nearly vomited.
“Besides,” my aunt continued, “if you hold the pig, you might find out other things you want to know.”
She nodded at Cap. Realization slammed into me. Oh my gosh, she was right.
When I saw the look of appreciation that filled Cap’s eyes as he watched Rose holding the piglet, I realized this was my only way in. In order to get this man to talk to me, I would have to hug a pig—literally.
Heck, at least I didn’t have to kiss it.
The things I would do for my job. I cringed, wanting to run the other way, yet I managed to extend my arms, reaching for the creature.
Rose placed the squirming animal in my arms. Sure enough, the pig licked my cheek. It was wet, but I managed not to grimace too much.
“She sure does like you,” Cap said. “She’s squealing up a storm.”
“Oh, that’s great,” I murmured, trying to keep the pig from climbing all over my face. “She’s sweet.”
“You should keep her.”
I balked. “I’m sorry?”
“You should keep her. The pig. She loves you.”
“I don’t need a pig.”
“Sure you do, Charming,” Rose said, butting her nose in my business. “Who doesn’t need a pig?”
“I live in a condo. I don’t think they allow pigs as pets.”
Rose peered over my shoulder and shot kissy faces to the pig. “You never know until you ask. Besides, I think Cap would like it a lot if he knew this little gal was taken care of.”
My gaze flickered back to Cap. He smiled proudly at the sight of the pig in my arms.
I rubbed my lips together. An idea was forming in my head. “Okay. I’ll keep her, but you have to answer some questions.”
He raked the back of his hand down his cheek. “Shoot.”
Yes! I was in. “What happened between you and Belinda? Why’d you break up?”
Darkness smeared his
face, but as quickly as it formed, it vanished. “We were told by our parents we couldn’t be together. She’s an air witch, and I’m an earth wizard. Everyone around here knows the only way we keep this town going is by making sure we stick to our own kind.”
I nodded. “Each element stays within its tribe.”
Cap stared at his hay bale. “Right. So we were forced to break up.”
“Oh, that’s so sad,” Rose said. “It’s like Romeo and Juliet. Except you didn’t kill yourselves. At least not yet.”
I shot her a dark look. “It isn’t anything like that.”
“Well sure it is,” she said. “They’re told by their parents they don’t belong together, but then against all odds they make sure they are allowed to love each other.”
“They broke up,” I said through gritted teeth.
She shrugged. “Well then it’s almost like Romeo and Juliet.”
I sighed, knowing I wouldn’t win this argument. “So your parents kept you apart.”
Anguish filled his eyes. “That’s right.”
If I could convince Cap that he was supposed to be with Belinda, I would make my first match in this town.
I stared at the sad-looking hay bale. “So everyone in this town is supposed to marry a witch of their kind. Does anyone ever depart from that rule?”
Cap shook his head. “No way. We keep to it. That’s how it’s been ever since Witch's Forge was created.”
“Is it a rule?”
Cap nodded. “Written in the town’s charter. Witches intermingling makes bad stuff happen.”
I frowned. “What sort of bad stuff?”
Cap thought about it for a second and then hiked a shoulder. “I don’t know. The old folks always said bad stuff.”
“The town would lose its power,” Rose answered.
I scoffed. “Town’s already losing that. That can’t be the reason.”
Rose tsked. “You never know, Charming. A town losing its magic is a bad thing. I mean, look at those sad hay bales. That should be golden brown. Instead it’s just brown. It won’t be long before no one will be left in Witch's Forge.”
It all started to make sense. Now that I knew the town had outlawed witches with different powers to marry, I was beginning to see what was going on.
“Cap, thank you for talking to me. I have a question for you—if the town changed the law and you could be with Belinda, would you do it? Would you date her?”
Cap rubbed the back of his neck shyly. “Well, I don’t know, Miss Calhoun. That’s a lot to think about.”
I grabbed his shirt collar. “I don’t need you to think about it too much, Cap. I’m offering you to be able to date your high school sweetheart. The girl you wanted to date before your parents got in the way. Would you do it?”
Hesitation flashed in his eyes.
“For goodness’ sake, assume I’m not going to tell that vampire police officer and get you arrested. Just tell me straight.”
Cap nodded slowly. “Yep, I’d date her.”
“Great.” I moved to leave and remembered my manners. “Thank you, Cap. I’ll take good care of the pig. Do you have a name for her yet?”
“No name. Y’all can come up with that.”
I smiled to him and turned away, handing the pig to Rose. “You’re in charge of her. I don’t have time for a pig.”
Rose beamed at her. “They’re just the cutest, Charming.” Rose snapped her fingers, and a bar of chocolate appeared in her palm. She shoved it under the pig’s nose.
The pig opened her mouth and swallowed the chocolate whole.
“Is that good for pigs? Chocolate?”
Rose patted her head. “It’ll be fine. You’re going to love having her.”
I frowned. “I doubt it. Listen, I’m going to drop you off at the house. I’ve got some things to do.”
“What things?”
I started the engine and gripped the steering wheel until my knuckles whitened. “First, I have to get that stupid law changed.”
“What else?”
“I still don’t trust that vampire. Of all the creatures who could’ve ripped Jimmy's shirt, I think he’s the prime suspect.”
I shifted the car into drive and peeled down the gravel road, kicking up rocks and dirt along the way.
I gritted my teeth. “That vamp is hiding something, and I plan to find out what.”
TWELVE
I dropped Rose off with Pig and noticed my mother was still sitting in the center of town, a large crowd surrounding her.
“And that’s when I learned that you can mix fire magic and ice magic, though the results can be unstable,” she said.
The crowd oohed and ahhed as she demonstrated. Even though my mother was a water witch by nature, she could tap into a little bit of fire magic.
One of her favorite things was to show off about it.
I rolled my eyes and entered the mayor’s office.
The first thing I heard upon entering was the sound of coughing, or rather hacking. It sounded like a cat trying to lung up a fur ball.
“Mayor Dixon?” I said hesitantly.
No reply. My heels clacked as I walked to the back of the office, where I found Emily standing over a trash bin.
That awful hacking continued until Emily saw me. She put the trash bin down and stopped. She wiped her mouth and said sheepishly, “Sorry. Something went down the wrong pipe.”
“Sounded like you were spitting up a fur ball,” I joked.
She brushed her hands down her silk blouse and smiled. “What can I do for you, Miss Calhoun?”
“I’m looking for the mayor.”
“Oh, once she heard Glinda Calhoun was giving magic lessons, she headed out to listen.”
I groaned. I’d obviously overlooked her in the crowd. Great. It would be impossible to drag her away from my mother. No one ever wanted to stop listening once Glinda Calhoun got on the storytelling bandwagon.
The door to the office opened, and the mayor’s voice drifted in. “You know, you should really give an official talk here. We would love to advertise that Witch's Forge is hosting the great Glinda Calhoun in a one-night-only event. Folks would come from nearby states to hear what you have to say.”
I watched as my mother followed Winnifred Dixon into the office.
The mayor continued. “You could possibly attract a whole new generation of folks to settle here. It would be wonderful.”
“Thank you, Mayor,” my mother said coolly. “But I’m only in town to visit my daughter.” Mama’s eyes flared when she saw me. “And there she is. Where did you get off to, Charming?”
“I didn’t think you’d noticed,” I muttered.
An uncomfortable laugh trilled from my mother’s throat. “Of course I noticed, pumpkin. I’m your mother. I notice when you run off.”
Mayor Dixon sat in her chair and circled around. “Your mother gave the most fabulous discussion on magical theory.”
I twirled my finger. “Whoop dee do. Did she tell you all her greatest victories? How she created the wall of water and made an army of trolls think the earth had split in two?”
“Yes,” Winnifred said in wonder. “She even explained how water magic is the most fluid of all magics.”
I raked my fingers through my hair. “They’re all fluid—well, maybe not earth, but the others are fluid. Anything built on feelings like that is fluid and slippery. Magic is all touchy-feely stuff.”
“But not your magic,” my mother said sharply. “It’s all mathematical and scientific. Starched-collar sort of stuff.”
“My magic works just fine,” I argued.
“What you have of it,” she countered.
I glared at her. This was the same argument we had over and over. My mother put down my magic, and I scoffed at hers. It never changed.
“Why did you come?” I said.
My mother ignored me. “Mayor, it was wonderful meeting you. I’ll consider your proposal. Charming, I’ll see you back at the, ur, house?
”
“Sure.”
She practically floated from the office. Once my mother vanished out the door, I turned to the mayor.
“Mayor, there’s something we need to discuss.”
A dreamy expression filled her eyes. She stared off in the distance, and I knew Winnifred was fantasizing about hosting my mother in an event and then all the people would see Witch's Forge—a grimy town overrun with vines.
Yeah, folks would want to stay here.
Not.
“Mayor, I need you to change the law that witches of different powers can’t marry.”
The mayor blinked at me. “I’m sorry?”
“I need you to change that law.”
“Why?”
Here went nothing. “Because I think that law is killing this town.”
She scoffed. “Nonsense. That law is what keeps the balance in Witch's Forge. It’s been like that for years. Besides, everyone knows that if witches of different magics marry and have children, those children will be born without powers. They will be sterile. That would kill the town.”
I shook my head, but she continued, “The power within us is what keeps the town magical.”
“But your magic doesn’t work. It makes sense that sooner or later babies will be born without any magical ability, if you keep to your theory.”
“None have been born so far,” she said proudly.
“But that doesn’t mean it won’t happen.” I sighed heavily and clasped my hands. “Mayor, you hired me to fix this town by marrying folks. The magic in this town is beginning to affect even my work. When Jimmy made the initial match of Belinda Ogle and Langdon Huggins, it appeared right on paper—each had the other’s name stamped on the bottom—but when I met with Belinda and used my magic to see her match, it wasn’t Langdon. In fact, it was a wizard in a completely different magical clan.”
The mayor gasped. “It must be wrong.”
“It isn’t wrong. My magic isn’t. Not about this.”
The mayor flicked her hand at me. “Then move on to another person. Find a match where the two witches are in the same magical town—a Fire Town witch and a Fire Town wizard.”
I sank into a chair. “Don’t you think that if two folks from the same town were going to be soul mates, they would already know each other and be together?”