~ ~ ~
Jennie drifted out of sleep, a jarring noise interrupting a very lovely dream. Judging from the angle of the sun, she wasn’t in her bed, and it wasn’t morning.
One eyelid slid halfway up, confirming her suspicions. She’d fallen asleep on the couch again, the consequences of a long night in the darkroom. No matter—she and the couch had spent plenty of time in happy entanglement.
The jarring noise came again, and the other eyelid slid up to half mast as well. Doorbell. Smart people knew not to wake her up from an afternoon nap.
Stretching like an old and somewhat cranky cat, Jennie swung her legs to the floor and ambled in the general direction of the front entry, stopping to peer in her coffee mug as she went. Empty. That would have to be fixed.
Clutching the mug in her hand, she pulled the door open. And squeezed her eyes shut, trying to make sense of the apparition on her doorstep. Two eyes peered out from behind a mountain of shopping bags. Jennie craned her neck, and then remembered she had magic. Darned afternoon naps really turned her brain to molasses. She reached out with a quick mindscan—and discovered pretty much the last person on earth she’d have expected to find behind a haul worthy of Shopaholics Anonymous. “Elsie?”
“Yes.” A giggle emerged from behind the bags. “Sorry, I guess this is a pretty effective disguise. I could use your help, if you have a few minutes.”
Any help involving those bags was going to take a lot longer than a few minutes, but Jennie was by now insanely curious. She grabbed some of the more precariously perched loot and opened the door as wide as it would go. “Come on in. Want some coffee?”
Elsie made it as far as the living room before her piles avalanched to the floor. She looked at the covered floor for a minute, mind shocked and more than a little amused. “I guess I got a bit carried away.”
“That’s not all of it,” said Jennie dryly, holding up the bags she’d claimed at the door. And decided she’d better offer fair warning. “For what it’s worth, I’m not much of a shopper.”
“Nor am I.” Elsie’s automatic response was followed by more giggles. “Or I wasn’t. I wanted a dress worthy of Gertrude Geronimo, so I started wondering into all the cute little stores downtown.” She waved her hand at the littered floor. “Somehow, that turned into this.”
Jennie didn’t have to ask who Gertrude was. The magnificently silly bicycle dominated Elsie’s thoughts, along with the adoration of a small child in love with her very first big-girl bike. “And what did you decide matched the lovely Gertrude?” She was a little afraid to ask.
Elsie’s mind suddenly grew up a couple of decades. She eyed the bags softly, gentle amusement on her face. “About the fourth store, I realized I wasn’t really trying to match Gertrude. I was trying to match the way I feel when I ride her.” She spun around slowly. “And then I realized Elsie Giannotto needed a new wardrobe.”
Her pleasure was contagious. “It seems you’ve done that, and very well, too.” Jennie smiled, delighted in the awakening happening right under her nose.
“I was having trouble choosing,” said Elsie, the first signs of a frown forming on her face. “I know how I feel inside, but the mirror still sees a woman who looks a lot like I always have.” She paused a moment, fingers touching something inside one of her bags with almost a wistfulness. “I hope these are me. They’re so pretty and, well… not boring.”
Jennie waited silently, aware this was building to something that felt monumental for her student.
“I wanted to ask you a big favor.” Elsie looked up, eyes suddenly intent. “You see things with your camera. Not just the outside of a person, but the inside.”
Now Jennie knew where they were headed. “It’s what I do, yes.”
“Will you take my picture—in these clothes?” Elsie held up a bag. “I want to see if my outside and inside match, or if I just look like a compulsive psychologist playing dress-up.”
Vero was right—Elsie was insanely brave. And for this to work, they were going to need an audience. The bigger, the better. Elsie was going to need love blowing beneath her wings to be the woman she wanted to see in the mirror.
Chapter 18
These people were her friends. She could do this. Elsie clutched a few of her precious shopping bags and tried to breathe. In less than an hour, Jennie’s house had shifted from peaceful oasis to feminine madhouse. Judging from the clothes heaped everywhere, she wasn’t the only one who was going to be playing dress-up.
The knock on the door didn’t even surprise her anymore. There had been a constant stream of arrivals since about ten minutes after Jennie had put out the word. It did, however, surprise her to find Helga on the doorstep, accompanied by Jodi, holding a huge pile of clothes.
The younger woman grinned. “These are Helga’s. Apparently she was quite the dresser in her younger days.”
Helga snorted and swatted her companion with a flaming red leather purse. “I’m still quite the dresser, missy.”
Elsie eyed the turquoise beaded pom-pom hanging down from the pile. Even the new Elsie wasn’t ready for one of those.
“Don’t worry—I don’t think Helga’s stuff will fit you,” said Jodi in a conspiratorial whisper. She winked. “But it might fit me.”
Helga bustled into the room and stood surveying the scene for a moment. Then she turned to Elsie, eyes gleaming. “Somebody needs to get this party organized.” She marched off in Jennie’s direction, battle fire in her eyes.
Elsie stood, barefoot and amused, and watched as General Helga had fifteen witches and assorted friends marching in time-step in ten seconds flat—without ever pulling out her knitting needles. Chairs were moved, piles were made, a big mirror was set up in front of the fireplace, and Jennie and her camera were perched on a stool in the corner.
Helga clapped her hands and got instant silence. Then she eyed Elsie. “I think we’re ready, my dear. Why don’t you go put on one of your outfits?”
It was only then that Elsie realized she was supposed to go on parade in front of a roomful of people she knew and loved—in clothes that made her feel practically naked. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine flying down a hill on Gertrude Geronimo. If she could do that, she could do this.
When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Helga’s face, full of pride and love—and command. Elsie reached down randomly for a bag and fled to Jennie’s study. If she moved fast enough, maybe she wouldn’t lose her nerve.
The bag contained one of her favorites, an ethereal, floaty sundress in bright yellow. Wispy straps held up a lightly embroidered top and three layers of filmy skirt. She slid into the dress, letting the voices in her head fight with each other undisturbed. Hopefully the echo of the saleslady who had thought it was the perfect color for Elsie’s sun-kissed shoulders would outshout her mother.
She ran her hands down the skirt once and headed back to the living room.
The doorway was as far as she got before her nerves ran out. She paused, distraught, as courage leaked down her toes and skittered out the front door. And then she caught sight of Helga’s needles, and something in her solidified. She could hardly do her sunny cloud of a dress justice if she stood like a child waiting to be scolded.
Taking a deep breath, Elsie walked into the room and spun slowly, letting the skirt dance with the air and her ankles. For the briefest of moments, she spun in silence—and then the clamor started.
“I’ve got shoes that go with that somewhere. Jodi, do you see them?” “It’s the color of sunshine, Mama!” “Bean has a sunsuit that’s exactly that color.” “It’s the perfect dress for a fire witch.” “The ones with the sunflowers on them, that’s right.”
Elsie felt like a bobblehead doll, trying to keep up with the conversation. No—conversations happened when people took turns speaking. This was something else entirely.
Jodi emerged out of the sea of noise and movement, clutching screaming red, sparkly, high-heeled sandals, adorned with a flower on each gl
ittery toe.
They were… ridiculous. And oh, she wanted them.
“Try them on, child.” Helga grinned, setting her knitting aside. “They were made for that dress.”
Elsie felt like a modern-day Cinderella, sliding her toes into the shoes. Then she stood up, wary of the four-inch heels, and discovered that when your shoes are that ridiculously tall, you have two choices. You can lean on a wall—or you can dance.
This time, when she spun, it was with the delighted speed of a small child, feeling like Marilyn Monroe and Dorothy of Oz all at the same time.
~ ~ ~
Nat watched as Jennie captured Elsie’s joyous flight on film—and knew she would want a copy of the picture. She smiled at herself, even knowing what she’d call it. The Sunbeam Formerly Known as Elsie.
That’s not bad, said Jennie’s amused voice in her head.
Nat got up and walked over to the stool where their resident photographer was still snapping shots, now of the faces watching Elsie.
Jennie smiled in welcome, even as her fingers kept moving. It’s some very good work you’ve done there.
“Not me.” And that realization still saddened Nat. “I pushed her away. Which seems to have worked out all right, but it’s the friends here who have helped her find her feet.”
“Oh, please,” said Lauren, pulling up a second stool. “You’re not usually so blind.”
Nat blinked. That kind of dismissive tone was very rare in her best friend. “What am I not seeing?”
Jennie held up her camera, a picture framed on the screen. “Look.” Nat stared at the picture of Elsie, a stream of yellow joy, hands stretched to the sky. And finally, she understood. Her former intern’s dance was a living, breathing sun salutation—the deepest embodiment of one of yoga’s most important lessons.
She reached blindly for the hem of her tank top. Pregnancy hormones had her sniffling at the strangest times—and they turned a real reason for tears into a monsoon.
Lauren’s hand touched hers, Kleenex in tow. “Wipe fast—you don’t want to miss the next part.”
Nat swiped just in time to catch their dancer careening to a halt in front of the full-length mirror. Elsie’s gaze met her own astonished eyes in the mirror, traveled to her flushed cheeks and permanent grin, and then drifted lower, over yellow gauze still floating on what Nat was sure were witch-assisted air currents, all the way down to flower-bedecked toes.
She was gorgeous—and as Elsie looked back up, it was clear she’d finally figured that out. Truth streamed from her eyes as she turned to face her audience. “Well, what do you think?”
Nat was pretty sure that for the first time in Elsie’s life, those words were an entirely rhetorical question. One of those chains Melvin talked about had just gone flying.
“I think,” said Helga, breaking the silence, “that you get to keep the shoes.”
Everyone saw the “I can’t” form on Elsie’s lips. And then watched as she walked it back in silent gratitude.
Helga smiled. “Take them dancing—they haven’t had young feet to enjoy them for many years.” She beamed at Elsie for another moment and then clapped her hands. “I don’t think we’ll beat that one on you, so time for everyone else to find an outfit. Jodi, my turquoise flapper dress has your name all over it.”
Nat watched in bemused awe as Helga herded cats, women, and witches with the kind of skill that suggested inborn talent and a lifetime of practice. Time for one yoga chick to go have some fun too. Hopefully something would fit her pregnant belly. She reached for the hand of her best friend—playing dress-up was a lot more fun with a partner.
“Not just yet,” said Lauren under her breath. “Incoming.”
“I asked her to drop off some things from Caro. Forgot about that.” Jennie had paused shooting as well, camera hanging loosely in one hand. She grinned at Lauren. “I vote for being cowards and leaving her to Helga.”
Lauren eyed their resident general. “That could work.”
Nat stopped wondering as she heard the distinctive clomp of Lizard’s shoes coming in the front door and sat back to watch what happened next. Her money was on Helga.
Lizard’s eyes opened wide as she came around the corner. “Did the mall explode?”
“Hmph.” Helga snorted, amused—and ready for battle. “This is hardly mall-quality apparel, dear.” She walked over, tucking her fingers under Lizard’s chin. “Let’s see. Tough eyes, but sensitive, too. Feisty, but I bet you like pretty things, even if you don’t admit it very often.”
“Damn.” Lauren’s whisper sounded highly impressed. “Pegged in one—she’s good.”
Nat grinned, pretty sure she wanted to adopt Helga. “I suspect those two have a lot in common.”
Their fashion general hemmed and hawed, studying Lizard from several angles and totally ignoring the fierce scowl. “Nice tats. Your design?”
“Yeah.”
“An artist, then.” Helga nodded decisively. “And a tiny little thing. Jodi, where’s that purple smocked shirt?”
~ ~ ~
Lizard had no idea what kind of crazy dress-up party she’d just walked into, but Helga’s intentions were obvious. And no way in hell was anything purple and smocked becoming part of her wardrobe, even on a temporary basis.
She took a quick glance around the room. Damn. Clearly no one else was objecting to playing grown-up Barbie dolls. And Jennie and Lauren were moving to cut off her exit. How come she always ended up trapped in these crazy Witch Central ambush parties? This one wasn’t even at her house.
Lizard glared—and then realized Helga had gotten distracted by some stranger in a crazy sequined dress. Time to hide. Pulling her mind barriers down tight, she headed, as casually as possible, for a quiet corner. If she positioned the stool just right, nobody would ever find her behind the mountain of clothes.
She grinned as she reached the stool and popped a flower-laden hat on her head. Camouflage. It was impossible to resist peeking, however.
It was like watching some kind of crazy play, full of color and light and random bits of magic. Elsie sat ensconced in a couch, dressed in duck yellow and the kind of sandals that made Lizard’s feet scream just looking at them. But she was loopy with happiness and riding a serious chocolate high, so maybe the shoes were just for decoration.
Even Caro had gotten into the act, modeling in front of the mirror in a fuzzy orange hat topped with a peacock feather. It even kind of worked on her.
Thanks. I think, sent Caro dryly.
Damn. Lizard yanked her mind barriers down tighter again, and then snickered as Helga descended on Lauren, something hot pink in her hands. Lauren had the good taste to look properly petrified.
It was like a Monet painting on really good drugs.
The words swirled in Lizard’s mind, a poem calling to be formed.
An afternoon out of Monet—
Flapper lilies and duck-yellow joy.
Dappled color and the quietly insane conversation
of women trying to find pieces of their souls
in a pile of clothes.
Half-dressed bodies and half-naked hearts.
She smiled, riding the glow of words that had found the right order.
Pretty words, girl. And no, I’m not peeking. Caro’s steady eyes met Lizard’s furious ones. You leak when you let go to find the poetry.
She’d let down her guard. Lizard felt physically sick.
I’m sorry. And Caro sounded it. I didn’t know you held it so close. I’ll be sure not to listen in next time.
There was hurt behind the apology, and a gentle sadness—and she just couldn’t rage at either. Not coming from the woman who lived next door and felt like home. Lizard swallowed her need to puke and tried to grow up. It’s mostly about you guys anyway, not about me. Freddie was right—she needed to give her freaking poems some clothes.
Well, we’ll see if it’s about you, said Caro, hurt subsiding, and something else in its place. Helga’s coming.
&nbs
p; Lizard turned—and quaked. Helga carried purple. And smocked. And some seriously smoking black leather pants. Frack.
~ ~ ~
Jennie turned her camera away from Lauren’s laughing face, catching the sudden tension radiating from her student-in-hiding. Something was up—and whatever it was, Caro had caught a piece of it. What’s up with Lizard?
Helga’s picked her an outfit.
Jennie snorted. No way that was the whole story—unless it involved turquoise pom-poms, and she was pretty sure the flapper dress was still running around on Jodi. And what else?
She leaked, and she’d rather not have. Caro’s mind was uncharacteristically ruffled. I listened a little too closely and caught a bit of her poetry. I should know better.
Being a mind witch was sometimes a minefield of ethics, but Caro respected lines as well as anyone Jennie knew. You okay?
Of course. Caro brushed off the concern. I got swept up. She’s an artist, that one, and it called to me. No excuses, though, even if she’s painting pictures with her words.
Jennie finally understood. Caro was a marvel with a paintbrush, a vivid and evocative artist. If Lizard had tapped into that with her words, Caro would have wanted to connect, artist to artist and witch to witch. And one delinquent blonde fairy probably wasn’t ready for that. It was too damn bad—Caro was a hell of an artist, and one of the most decent human beings on the planet.
The small shriek from behind the clothing bunker suggested that Helga had found her target. And if that hadn’t caught the attention of everyone in the room, the cursing would have.
“I don’t wear frilly crap. Or stuff that isn’t black.”
“Of course you don’t.” Helga’s voice was motherly, calm, and utterly determined. “Do you want the boots or the sandals?”
“I’m not wearing this stuff.” Lizard sounded like Leo ramping up for a monster toddler tantrum.
“Personally I like the boots best, even if it’s summer.” Helga sounded smooth as glass. “They’re better for stomping around in. We small women need to make the earth shake when we walk—it’s more fun that way.”
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