Potion Problems

by Cindy Callaghan

  I looked at the ingredients on the counter: White bread, butter, salt, and Cedronian black pepper. The black pepper was in a green glass bottle. There was a Post-it: Eggs are in the fridge.

  I took out the egg carton. It was full because Aunt Aggie didn’t eat eggs. Inside was the handwritten recipe for MM3: Memories in an Egg Pocket. The recipe was signed, RS. I knew what an egg pocket was because my mom had made them. I turned the recipe over. Feed someone an alternate memory. That sounded like a great way to manage Charlotte.

  I put a frying pan on the stove and remembered that I couldn’t do this alone. I woke up Darbie and Hannah and told them I needed their help with breakfast.

  Hannah hopped up, but Darbie took more coaxing.

  “I’ll make you coffee with chocolate sauce and Aunt Aggie’s almond milk,” I said.

  “Ohhh. That sounds good. I would probably be able to move my feet to the floor if I could actually smell it brewing.”

  “Fine,” I said.

  I whipped up the steamy mug, brought it in to her, and let the scent float under her nostrils. She rose from her bed and followed the cup as I led her into the kitchen. I sat her down on a kitchen stool and let her sip the cup.

  “What are we doing?” Hannah asked.

  “Charlotte,” I said.

  “You know,” Hannah said. “She’s been kind of nice these last two days.”

  “I think so too, but she’s seen a lot, and I don’t think we can let her take all that info back to Wilmington. It’s just too risky,” I said.

  Darbie said, “The first time she gets mad at us for something, which could happen anytime for any reason, who knows what she’d do?”

  “Okay,” Hannah agreed. “But nothing like Memory Maker Part Two, that was too much.”

  “Aunt Aggie left me this.” I held up Memories in an Egg Pocket. “It looks less hexy than the lotion.” I explained how it would work. We’d make the egg pockets together, but only add the Cedronian black pepper to Charlotte’s. Then, while we ate it, we would feed her new memories about the weekend that would override the actual ones. When we were done eating, the reprogramming would be done.

  “Who’s gonna take the Return?” Hannah asked.

  “Not it!” Darbie yelled.

  “Shh!” Hannah said. “You’ll wake her up before we’re ready.”

  “I think you’ve had your share, Darb. It’s my turn,” I said.

  Hannah warned me, “We don’t have any deeds here, so whatever the Return is, you’ll have it all the way back to Wilmington.”

  “Yup. I understand,” I said.

  I melted the butter in the frying pan, tore a circular hole in a slice of bread, and dropped it into the pan. I flipped the bread a little, and once it was golden buttery, I cracked an egg into the hole and let it bubble. I sprinkled salt and flipped it. I did the same thing with the rest of the bread and eggs. Hannah put the pockets on plates with strawberries and orange slices and set the table. On one we sprinkled Cedronian pepper, and normal pepper on the others.

  “Before the boys wake up, I want to tell you girls something,” I said. “Because we don’t keep secrets from each other.”

  I explained about the history of my family.

  “You’re a witch like a real wart-on-the-nose, green-faced, melt-from-a-bucket-of-water kind of witch?” Darbie asked.

  “No,” I said. “Not like that. I’m a descendant, which means I might sometimes have just a little spark when it’s really needed. And when I’m with the two of you of course, you know, three and all.” Then I added, “So we’ll have to be best friends forever.”

  “Forever,” Hannah said.

  “And ever,” Darbie added.

  Frankie walked in the kitchen, “What’s ‘forever and ever’?” Without getting an answer, he hung his nose over the plates “That smells good,” Frankie said.

  “So good.” Tony came into the kitchen. His hair was all mussed up from sleeping; it was so cute.

  We explained which egg pocket was for Charlotte and how the potion worked, and Tony went to get Charlotte.

  Frankie was pouring orange juice when Tony ran back into the kitchen.

  “She’s gone.”

  37

  Joe Barney for Mayor

  Gone?” I asked.

  “Can you clarify?” Hannah asked.

  “As in, not in her bed.”

  One second later the front door opened, and in walked sweaty Charlotte. “Now you sleepyheads are up.”

  “Where were you?” Frankie asked.

  “I went for a morning run. Like always.” Then she added, “What? Were you worried about me?”

  “We just didn’t want to eat breakfast without you.” I held out the chair by her peppered pocket. “Sit down.” She did, and everyone else followed suit.

  “Oh, that’s nice. I’m starving.” She dug right in, and we started talking.

  “That water park was awesome,” Frankie said. “I love the lazy river.”

  Darbie said, “And how about that haunted house? I was so scared.”

  And just like that Charlotte was fed the details about a completely different weekend, equally full of fun.

  To make sure it was working, I asked Charlotte, “Remember the water park and haunted house?”

  “Totally,” she said. “They were great.”

  And Darbie said, “And I worked out with you every day and I ran faster than you and you finally believed me that I can tell M&M colors apart based on their taste.”

  “You’re faster than I thought, and you truly have a gift for M&M’s,” Charlotte agreed.

  Memory Maker Three had been a success.

  * * *

  I made it back to Wilmington without a Return finding me. But that’s the thing about Returns, they getcha when you least expect it. So I was on high alert.

  We regrouped with Señora Perez, who had already started packing up the store.

  “This seems a little premature, Señora P,” Hannah said.

  Darbie picked up a colorful scarf from the hook on the wall. “Can I have this?”

  Señora P nodded at Darbie.

  “Cool beans.” Darbie whisked the silky scarf around her neck.

  “You girls do not worry about me. Now tell me, did you find the letter?”

  “We did,” I said.

  Darbie added some color. “It was literally in a crypt. Like inside. Kelly was so brave—she went in and got it. Oh, and Tony went with her. I saw them holding hands.”

  “Then you have very much to tell me.”

  “We’re just friends,” I said.

  The three of them exchanged a look like they knew I was lying.

  I thought maybe we were starting to be a little more than friends, but it wasn’t anything to put words around yet. I ignored their looks and kept going.

  “The letter explained the Power of Three,” I said to change the subject, and explained to her that all three of us needed to make a recipe for it to work. I left out the part where one of the three had to be me, and that my ancestors were witches who managed to escape the witch trials. It sounded crazy in my head. Would she even believe me? It hadn’t even really sunk in with me.

  “Tres,” she said. “That makes sense. Throughout history, three has always been a magical number. The best things come in threes. It forms a triangle. We describe time in threes: past, present, and future; beginning, middle, end. In many cultures and religions three is a number of rituals. In tales, the hero is always granted three choices or three wishes. And all colors come from the primary three.”

  “I never noticed all of that,” Hannah said.

  Darbie’s phone chirped with a text. I jumped at the sound, thinking it could be my Return.

  “Why so jumpy?” Señora P asked.

  Hannah said, “She’s waiting for a Return. We used Memory Maker Three on Charlotte, and Kelly added the Cedronian pepper. She hasn’t gotten a Return yet.”

  “Ah. I understand.”

  Darbie held u
p her phone. “It’s Mac again. He’s so funny.” She showed us a selfie Mac took of himself with straws stuck under his top lip like a walrus.

  The shells hanging on the store’s front door jingled, and in walked Mr. Barney. He looked around the store. “Are you going to be done in time?”

  “In time for what?” I asked.

  Señora P said softly, “To be out by the end of the month.”

  “The end of this month, as in by Halloween? Like in two days? I thought you had another month?” Hannah asked.

  Señora P shook her head. “This way I do not have to pay the new rental rate for November.”

  Darbie stared at Mr. Barney, and I was sure she was going to say something terrible to him. Instead she asked, “Have you ever thought of running for mayor?”

  38

  The Return Found Me

  Mayor?

  I mean, he was kicking Señora P out of her store, and Darbie was talking local politics?

  Then she added, “Because you would be great. Seriously, exactly what this town needs.”

  Mr. Barney stood up a little straighter. “Why, yes. I’ve been thinking about it, actually. I’m preparing to announce any day. How in the world did you know?”

  “People are always surprised by how perceptive I am.”

  She was right about that.

  “Since when are you interested in local politics?” Hannah asked Darbie.

  “Since Mayor Marini announced he wouldn’t run for reelection, I’ve been looking carefully at the elders of our community to see who’d be good for the job.”

  Mr. Barney started to say, “My campaign would—”

  Darbie finished his thought. “—sure be tough if the biggest thing to happen to Wilmington was three girls on TV with the one and only Felice Foudini, telling every voter that you kicked a poor woman out of the store she’d invested her life in. Man, that’d be a bummer.” She frowned at the idea. “Wouldn’t it, Mr. Barney?”

  Darbie was a genius. I may be a secret witch descendant, but Darbie O’Brien was a secret genius!

  Hannah picked up on what she was doing and chimed in. “People would not like that. It would really make the election hard for you.”

  For good measure I added, “Maybe impossible to win.”

  “Oh,” he said, looking flustered. “Well, that’s not what’s happening here at all. The rent for these stores hasn’t increased in five years. I’m just going with what the actual rental rate should be now.”

  “I have an idea, girls,” Hannah said. “We could invite the mayoral candidates to come on the show with us. They could cook with us, and people could get to know them. I mean, assuming it’s okay with Felice Foudini.”

  Darbie said, “I’m sure she’d be okay with it. She seems to love Kelly.”

  “But, we might not have time to have them all on the show, though. . . .” I let that hang out there to see if Mr. Barney would bite.

  And he did. “I’ll make you a deal,” he said. “I won’t raise the rent on one condition. Make that two.”

  “What?” Darbie asked.

  He softened his look a bit. “Please invite Charlotte to be on the show with you.”

  And there it was. The Return. It found me and hit me where it hurt most—my Felice Foudini show.

  “Why would she want that?” Darbie asked. “She doesn’t even like us.”

  “That’s not true at all,” Mr. Barney insisted. “She hasn’t stopped talking about your weekend. She especially liked the lazy river. I haven’t seen her this happy in a long time.”

  Mr. Barney paused. “You know, she’s always jealous that you have each other. I mean, Kelly, you guys were friends for a while when you were younger. Don’t tell her I told you this, but she’s wanted to be friends with you girls forever. You started that cooking club and never invited her, even though she was right next door the whole time. She even went over to your house when she knew you were all there, and not once did you ask her to stay.”

  My eyes met with Darbie’s and Hannah’s. I knew them so well that I could read their expressions. Darbie’s told me, Don’t agree to it, while Hannah’s said, Awww, she just wanted to be our friend this whole time.

  “Fine,” I said. “She can be on the show, assuming Felice Foudini says it’s okay, but she’ll have to earn our friendship. You might not believe this, but she hasn’t been very nice to us.”

  “And, maybe, you have not been very nice to her,” Señora P pointed out.

  Señora P had a fair point.

  “What’s the second condition?” Hannah asked.

  “That I’m the first candidate you have on the show.”

  “Darbie, what do you think? It was your idea,” I said.

  “No promises, but we’ll work with the producers,” she said.

  39

  The Deed

  A few days passed and it was finally Halloween Eve and the night before the show.

  The deed I’d chosen had kept me up all night.

  I knew how I would fulfill it.

  I had to make an important phone call.

  To Felice Foudini.

  About the show.

  And then I went next door.

  40

  Back to the Birthday Party

  I knocked on the Barneys’ back door.

  Charlotte answered and instantly put her hands on her hips. “What do you want to borrow now, Kelly Quinn?”

  “Nothing.” I changed my mind. “Actually, there is something.”

  “I knew it.”

  “You. I want to borrow you. For the TV show.”

  Charlotte tilted her head and checked me out like she was wondering what I was up to.

  “It’s like you said in Salem. It was right in front of me. Or, in this case, next door. You and I have practically grown up together, and we should be friends.”

  Her mouth gaped in disbelief.

  “I mean, if you want to.”

  She nodded, and after a beat she said, “Kelly, I’m sorry I spoiled your ninth birthday surprise party.”

  41

  Halloween

  Three, two, one, and action!”

  Felice Foudini walked onto the set that had been temporarily set up in the middle of La Cocina.

  When I’d called Felice, she’d loved the idea of having the show in the store. This fulfilled my deed: Help someone in trouble.

  Señora P was more than “someone”—she was my friend.

  Felice thought the store was a little dark and dusty for the image she was trying to present so she sent in a cleaner and an electrician to bump up the lights.

  The place looked great.

  It kept its antique, old-fashioned charm and maintained its spooky attractiveness, including the moose head. To add to the ambiance, Señora P had her crow sitting nearby, giving the evil eye to everyone on set—and everyone watching at home.

  In addition to the camera crew, the store was packed with people: my mom and dad and little brother; Mr. and Mrs. Rusamano; Pete, from the landscaping business; Mrs. Silvers and her daughter Joanne; Mr. and Mrs. Barney; Mr. Douglass and LLJ; Coach Richards and Coach Madden—somehow they had become friends at a coaches meeting while we were in Salem; and Mac and Aunt Aggie, who took the train down from Salem.

  “Here I am,” Felice said to the camera. “In Wilmington, Delaware, with the winners of my recipe challenge.” She waved to us. “Come on out, Kelly.”

  We walked out to the set.

  “Introduce your cooking team.”

  I said, “We’re actually more of a club.”

  “I love it,” Felice said, and flashed her signature smile. “A cooking club. Sounds like something every town should have.”

  “I couldn’t agree more,” I said. “The members of the club are: Darbie O’Brien, Hannah Hernandez, Tony Rusamano, Frankie Rusamano, and Charlotte Barney.”

  “Okay—”

  I interrupted the celebrity chef. “And we’re filming at the one and only cooking store in the entire
region with products sourced directly from Mexico. It has been an inspiration for many of our most wonderful dishes.” I held my hands up. “La Cocina!”

  “Okay—”

  This time Hannah interrupted her. “La Cocina has the best spices in the world.”

  “And,” Darbie added, “if you don’t live nearby, you can order them from the brand-new La Cocina website.”

  Mac gave her a thumbs-up and tapped on his iPad. He’d whipped up a website with shopping features. After the show, everyone watching us was staying to help fulfill orders. And, of course, eat our Brew Stew.

  “I have to agree, this place is a hidden gem,” Felice Foudini said. “Let’s get cooking. What are you making?”

  I said, “Charlotte, why don’t you tell them?”

  Charlotte put on a black pointy hat, and we did the same. “This is a warm and bubbly Halloween treat: Brew Stew.”

  “Sounds fab!” Felice said. “Take it away.”

  We walked through the recipe, which we mixed in a big bowl shaped like a cauldron.

  Fifteen minutes later, Felice came back on, and we handed her a steamy mug. “It sure does look spooky,” she said. “But let’s see how it tastes.” She took a spoonful.

  “Mmmmm. You have to try this. It’s so good. Remember, Kelly Quinn and her cooking club will be on every week coming to you live right from La Cocina.”

  “And remember,” Charlotte said.

  We all joined in and yelled, “You. Can’t. Be. Too. Yummy!”

  Recipes

  Have fun making some of Kelly’s favorite recipes—but make sure you have a trusted adult helping you out!

  VEGGIE ENCHI-LA-DI-DAS

  1 yellow onion, chopped

  1 green pepper, chopped

  1 package frozen veggie crumbles

  1 package frozen chopped spinach

  1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes

  1 packet taco seasoning mix