Witch Ball - BK 3

by Linda Joy Singleton

  "You and Ashley on the outs?" I asked.

  Reaching into a basket on the counter, she picked up a Velcro ball and tossed it in her hands. "Do these balls stick to you?"

  "Yes. But you didn't answer my question."

  She tossed the ball lightly at my costume and it stuck.

  "I thought you and Ashley were best friends," I persisted.

  "Can we please not talk about her?"

  I plucked the ball from my costume and set it back in the basket. Trouble in twin city? I wondered in surprise. Now that I thought back to the birthday party, Amy had spent most of her time tagging after me. Ashley, on the other hand, was always surrounded by a flock of friends, and car tied herself with a sophistication that made her appear much older than ten. At least Amy, who only wore makeup for recitals and modeling, looked her age. But they were both growing up fast ... maybe too fast.

  I didn't press Amy any further, figuring she'd confide in me when she was ready. Instead, I suggested she check out the other booths while I worked. "Get something to eat or have your face painted by Penny-Love's new guy, Jacques. She swears he's the most talented artist in the universe."

  "Can't I just stay with you?" she asked softly.

  "Of course you can."

  So I put Amy to work collecting money and handing out Velcro balls. Right away we were swamped with kids eager to attack a human target. Fortunately the balls were light, so it only tickled when someone scored a hit.

  After about an hour of my getting smacked with Velcro balls, Amy offered to take my place. "You deserve a break," she said. "I'll dodge balls for a while and you enjoy the carnival."

  "You're the one who should see the booths," I insisted. "I signed up for this, but you came here for fun."

  "This is fun." Her dark hair fell across her face. "I like staying here."

  I felt guilty for leaving, but I'd been curious how the other booths were doing. So I helped her slip into the ugly costume, then promised to hurry back.

  The first booth I went to sold candy and candles, and was run by Nona's friend Velvet, who owned the yummy store Trick and Treats. Although she didn't know the details of my grandmother's illness, she knew something was wrong and gave me a special herbal tea for Nona. Before leaving I bought a bag of chocolate caramels and a strawberry-scented candle.

  Then I wandered over to the face-painting booth. Penny-Love's new boyfriend Jacques was stocky with alert brown eyes and flame-red streaks in his stubby black ponytail. I watched a moment, studying him. He looked about eighteen, not too macho, but mature in a quiet, intense way.

  Next, I watched a skinny boy with bad acne, but a great throwing arm, dunk Principal Cowboy in a tub of water-twice! Then I wandered up and down aisles until I came to Manny's booth. He'd done a great job setting up, with a purple banner waving "Mystic Manny" and glittery decorations of stars and moons.

  "Ah, another victim ... I mean customer." He whisked me behind a dark curtain and plopped me in a chair. He wore gaudy fake jewels and a turban while he sat at a dimly lit table. It was so dark under his blanket-fashioned tent that I could hardly see my own hands. "Are you ready to have your fortune told?"

  "Me? You have to be kidding."

  "Even doctors must have checkups and teachers need to go to school. It's about time the psychic gets a reading. And I am just the mystic to do it!"

  "It's too dark in here," I complained, feeling around for a chair and then sitting across from him.

  "Mood lighting. Now sit quietly, my dear, while I consult the crystal ball."

  "Usually you just consult me." It had been easy coming up with predictions for him. All I had to do was concentrate on a name and I just knew things. Like Lizette's boyfriend had gotten a speeding ticket, Manuel's male cat was actually female and pregnant, and Mr. Blankenship needed to replace his car battery.

  "Mystic Manny knows all," he declared.

  "Your accent is pathetic. Is it supposed to be German or Russian?"

  He held up his palm. "Silence while I summon the spirits."

  I shrugged, deciding this could be amusing. Manny would probably say something self-serving like I was destined to work extra hours on the newspaper.

  My eyes began to adjust to the dark as Manny waved his hands over the crystal ball and he chanted strange words. The ball flashed like a blazing moon, and I smelled a strong scent of vanilla. A silver-gray aura swirled, making me dizzy.

  "You have angered a powerful force," Manny spoke in a raspy voice. "I see much darkness ahead."

  So get more candles, I was going to joke, only my throat tightened and I couldn't speak.

  "Dire events are churning in motion." He stared deep into the ball, taking his mystic role too far. He even looked like a different person; as if a withered, pale mask floated over his face.

  "Nothing earthbound or spirit guided will protect you from the dark journey ahead," he droned ominously. "Destiny is unavoidable."

  What destiny? I wanted to shout, but I couldn't even open my mouth. A heavy pressure pushed me down, trapping me spellbound in my chair. Stop it, Manny! This is all wrong and scary. You're not acting like yourself.

  But his mouth twisted in an angry line and his burning eyes bore into me. "Someone who loves you will cause your death. In five days, you will die."

  The reddish glow faded from the glass ball and the heavy gray aura lifted.

  "What happened?" Manny blinked as if waking from a long sleep. "Sabine, why are you looking at me like that?

  I rocked in the chair, wrapping my arms around myself. My head throbbed. I felt both chilled and hot all over.

  Manny stood up and drew back the curtain, shining bright light into the tent. "Beany, are you sick?"

  Five days, five days ... the words echoed in my head.

  "Say something already. What just happened?"

  "Don't you remember?" I whispered hoarsely. "Those things you said ..."

  "I haven't said anything yet." He furrowed his brow. "You only just got here and I was getting ready to read your fortune."

  "But you already did."

  "No, I didn't. I was going to, but then I ... well what the hell? That's weird, I usually have a great memory. I don't understand."

  "Neither do I." The makeshift fortune-telling tent looked ordinary-until my gaze fell on the table and I gasped. "That crystal ball! Where did you get it?"

  "Penny-Love brought it from your house. She said it was sitting on your dresser right where you told her. I was expecting something plastic and cheap, yet this is-"

  "The wrong ball!" I finished.

  "How could that happen?"

  I shook my head, wondering the same thing. I'd duct-taped the witch ball inside a sturdy box and hidden it deep inside my closet. Glass balls can't open doors. So how had it gotten from a duct-taped box in my closet to the carnival? I'd have to talk with Penny-Love, but right now there was a more serious issue.

  "You can not use this," I snatched the ball from Manny, then found a paper bag and dumped it inside.

  "Why not?"

  "Because it might be . . . " I lowered my voice so no one could overhear. "Haunted."

  "Seriously?" His black eyes widened. "Like with a ghost?"

  I nodded, although nothing made sense. If there was a ghost or spirit nearby, why didn't I sense it? It was as if my channel to the other side was blocked. "I have to get this ball out of here before it does anything worse."

  "Worse than what?" Manny asked.

  In five days, you will die. Of course that prediction was ridiculous. I refused to let it scare me. I was young, healthy, and in no imminent danger. If there was a ghost hanging around, it didn't have the power to do any physical harm. And the witch ball couldn't hurt me either-it was only a chunk of glass.

  "I'm taking this back home," I said firmly.

  Manny frowned. "Then what will I use as a fortune-telling prop?"

  "Pretend to read palms or ask Velvet for some tarot cards. She sells more than candy at her booth, although
she might not advertise it. Now I have to go_

  "Not until you tell me why you're so scared." Manny grabbed my arm.

  "I'm not scared."

  "I don't buy it. Is it that prediction I gave you? What did I say?"

  "It's not important."

  "Tell me, Sabine."

  I didn't want to, but he had a right to know. After I told him, he looked as stunned as if I'd just punched him in the gut. "That's sick. I couldn't possible have said those things."

  "You did, but it wasn't really you."

  "So who was it? My evil clone?"

  "Everything will be okay when the ball is gone."

  "Is that supposed to reassure me?" He sank down in a chair and rubbed his hand over his forehead. "As a psychic, I totally suck. Sorry for the rotten prediction."

  "It wasn't a real prediction," I assured. "Forget about it."

  "That's the problem-I already have. I can't remember the others either."

  "Others? What do you mean?" I dug my fingernails into the paper bag. "You gave other predictions?"

  "Yeah. Although my brain is all foggy like waking up from a dream."

  "How many predictions?"

  He started to answer, then shook his head in bewilderment. "I-I'm not sure, but before you came there were at least two ... maybe three."

  My heart raced. "Who did you give them to?"

  "I don't know." He paused, then gave a grim shake of his head. "I have no idea at all."

  Amy must have thought I was crazy when I asked her to cover my booth while I left the carnival. I promised to hurry back, then rushed off before she could ask any questions. She was too busy dodging Velcro balls to argue.

  I held tightly to the paper bag, afraid the witch ball might escape again. Not that I wanted to keep it! I wish I'd never brought it back from Pine Peaks in the first place. It had been in my distant-cousin Eleanor's attic for decades, and that's where it should have stayed. I could call her and beg her to take it back, but would that stop it from returning?

  Nothing made any sense, and I couldn't get that horrible prediction out of my head. I'd told Manny not to worry, that I had no plans to die anytime soon. But I felt a sick sense of unease, and I really wanted to believe my own words. I mean, the idea that someone I loved would kill me was absurd.

  Yet I couldn't just ignore it either. It was obvious that a dark entity was spreading evil. I knew confused ghosts could haunt places and buildings, but I never expected to find one connected to an inanimate object. Had it targeted me specifically or was it randomly malicious? At least two other people had received predictions. Had they been told they would die, too?

  I longed to ask Opal for advice, only she still wasn't answering. She'd cut off contact with me before, but I didn't think she'd done it on purpose this time. It was as if a wall blocked me from the other side. I had to get rid of the witch ball.

  Ducking out a side door, I headed for the parking lot. That's when I realized I had a big problem. No car-not even a bike. Nona wouldn't return to pick me up for hours.

  I was reaching for my cell phone to call her when the sound of a noisy truck engine made me look up. Dominic! His beat-up truck was hard to miss as it pulled into the parking lot. He could be sarcastic and annoying, but he was one of the few people who would understand this situation.

  A strong smell of diesel hung in the chilled air as he shut off his engine and stepped out of his truck.

  "Am I glad to see you," I told him.

  "You are? That's a first," he said with a wry smile. Pocketing his keys, he gestured toward the bag in my arms. "What's in there?"

  "Trouble." I lifted the bag.

  "A gift for me?" he asked lightly. Then his smile died when he peeked in the bag. "Why are you carrying this around? You were supposed to put it away.

  "I did. But it didn't stay."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Penny-Love mistook it for the crystal ball I bought for Manny's fortune-telling booth and gave it to Manny. Then things got really weird ..." I paused, not wanting to talk about the prediction Manny gave me, as if that would make it would real. "Anyway, I was going to take the ball home, only I don't have a ride."

  "You do now," he said.

  "Thanks. That's half of my problem solved. Now if I could just figure out what to do with this ball."

  "I'll take it."

  "And do what?" I asked uneasily.

  His hands tightened to fists. "Smash it."

  A tremor shuddered through me. Was destroying the ball the right thing to do? I wasn't sure, and felt an odd reluctance to give him the ball. I opened the bag, gazing down at dazzling rainbows spun in glass. It would be a crime to destroy such a beautiful antique. I held the bag closer, enjoying a pleasant warmth. I had a mental image of the ball hanging high in a window, shining sunlight into colorful prisms.

  When I glanced up, Dominic was watching me with a concern. My emotions lurched. I remembered the kiss we shared-the thrill of his touch, the sweet taste of his lips, and how safe I'd felt in his strong arms. It never should have happened, yet we'd been caught up in powerful feelings that hadn't been our own. Still it felt so real ... and the memory lingered. I found myself leaning closer to Dominic, lifting my arms and reaching for-

  "No!" I jumped back, hot all over.

  "No what?" His brows arched with questions.

  "No, we shouldn't do anything dumb ..." I knew I was blushing. "With the ball, I mean."

  "So what do you want to do," he hesitated, "with the ball?"

  "We need to understand it better."

  "If that's what you want."

  "I-I don't know what I want." That was the problem, I thought. Everything felt so confusing. And instead of getting rid of the ball, I was hugging the bag like it was a prized treasure. I shoved it at Dominic. "Here. You'd better take it."

  "Are you sure?"

  No! I thought while I answered, "Yes."

  "I know just where to put it for now." Dominic locked it inside a metal container in the back of his truck.

  "Is that safe?" I asked, my arms feeling strangely empty.

  "Trust me, it's secure." He pointed up at the sky where a large red-brown bird circled, then at Dominic's whistle, the bird fluttered down to perch on the hood of the truck. He stroked the bird's silky feathers, then ordered, "Dagger. Guard."

  I knew Dominic had an uncanny way with wild creatures, still it was freaky to watch him having a conversation with a bird.

  "All done," he said. "Let's go."

  Then he took my hand and led me back to the carnival.

  I was not in a carnival mood. I mean, I'd just been told I had less than a week to live-not that I believed that weird prediction-but it was hard to act like everything was fine. Why didn't I let Dominic smash the ball? Was I crazy or something? It was just a chunk of glass. Smashing it seemed the logical thing to do. I still wasn't sure why I stopped Dominic.

  To my surprise, Amy and Dominic hit it off, discovering a shared passion for reading. They were discussing J.R.R. Tolkien as they headed for booths. I slipped back into the itchy, ugly costume. At least dodging Velcro balls kept me too busy to dwell on problems. Well, almost too busy. Between hits I worried about Josh, Nona, and the witch ball.

  About an hour later, Amy returned to my booth, wearing a balloon hat twisted into the shape of a dog and lugging a large stuffed unicorn in her arms. "Dominic won this for me," she exclaimed. "Isn't it awesome?"

  "It's great. So where's Dominic?" I asked.

  "Oh he left. Some work he had to do." She giggled. "He takes himself so seriously, but he's really nice."

  "You think?" I kept my expression blank, but wondered if his "work" had something to do with the class he'd mentioned taking.

  "Oh, yeah. But I like Josh, too," she amended quickly. "He made this hat for me, and asked me to give you a message."

  "What?"

  "He was leaving early to help a friend study. But he said he'd call you later."

  My stomach knotted.
"Was the friend named Evan?"

  "Yeah, that sounds right. Someone you know?"

  "Unfortunately," I said with a grimace. Then to change the subject because my little sister was the Energizer Bunny of curiosity, I turned and pointed to a little girl in ponytails. "Here's another customer."

  While I hurried back to the target zone, I thought about josh. I'd torn up the envelope with the awful clipping and tossed it in the garbage, but that wouldn't stop Evan from telling josh about my past.

  A Velcro ball zoomed toward me, but I dodged to the right.

  Evan only dated that girl from my old school to dig up dirt on me-and he'd succeeded. Now he had proof that I was a freak and a liar.

  Another ball soared for my head, but I ducked and it missed me.

  How could I stop Evan from telling Josh? At my last school, my best friend Brianne turned against me when she found out and even signed a petition to have me expelled. Josh didn't believe in psychics, but he did believe in total honesty. If he found out about my past, he'd hate me for lying.

  I forgot to dodge and a ball struck me right in the chest.

  When the carnival ended, Amy and I stayed to help clean up by sweeping and packing up boxes. The Booster Club had made over a thousand dollars, which was cause for celebration and everyone was going out for ice cream. But I just wanted to go home.

  After the last box was carried out to PennyLove's station wagon, I telephoned Nona to pick me up. Amy made a call of her own and got permission to spend the night. Amy and I would stay up late watching movies, eating popcorn, and playing card games like we did before I moved out.

  It was the best news I'd heard all day.

  We were waiting outside for Nona, when I heard someone call my name.

  Turning, I saw Manny running toward me. His black dreadlocks flew from his face and he panted from exertion.

  "Finally found you!" he said, bending slightly to catch his breath. "I was afraid you'd already left."

  "What are you still doing here?"

  "Looking for you. Can we talk alone for a minute?"