by L. C. Miller
Chapter Twenty-Six
“That’s the most girlie thing I could think of. Besides, it was Micah’s idea. He tweaked the recipe, and we kept a couple of stars in our pockets to try out.” The dance soon ended. Natt, Abby, and Micah made an effort of not looking in Brock’s direction. Mia raised her eyebrows at them. Natt just smiled and bowed to the cheering crowd.
“He looks like a candy cane,” Samoan told Abby as they made with way back to the empty class room.
“Wish I had a picture of that,” she giggled.
“That was brilliant,” said Arika sarcastically, glaring at Natt and Micah. “You could have gotten us into so much trouble!”
“He deserved it,” Micah defended himself.
“That doesn’t mean you should have made it permanent. They were only supposed to change colors temporarily.”
“Well, I’d better be off,” said Abby, hugging Samoan as Arika stalked away.
“You be good.” Micah picked Abby up as they hugged.
Natt was next. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell them that you dance with your wand,” he whispered in her ear. “I know you’re not supposed to bring it into camp, but since this isn’t camp, I guess it doesn’t matter.”
“What?”
He shrugged at her. “I could feel it when I picked you up, remember? It doesn’t bother me. You’re still more fun to dance with.” Hugging him again, Abby thanked him before running into Mrs. Queenly’s classroom.
Mia and Mrs. Queenly were waiting. “That was very good,” said Mrs. Queenly as she switched her desk back into a changing room.
Putting on her school robes, Abby stepped back out. “Perfect timing for that potion,” said Mia as Abby’s hair shortened and changed to dull brown. Mrs. Queenly ushered Abby out of the room after she waved bye to Mia. Abby made her way outside and waited for Ethan, Aaron, and Carly to join her.
“Hey, Abby!” said Martin as he came outside with some other students. “I’m sorry you had to miss the dance. It was awesome. I even danced with a Mystic.”
“If you call that dancing,” Perry teased as he came out with Brock. The duo made sure to knock over many broomsticks along the way.
Martin started to go back inside with his candy-filled pumpkin. Looking behind his shoulder at her, he said, “I’ll tell you more about it Monday!” He darted past Carly as she came running out. Like most students, she carried a pumpkin full of candies and goodies.
“Hey, Abby!” she called, running to her. Having been hit with a powder-filled star, her dress and headpiece had turned white. The teal was just beginning to come back into her dress. The peacock hat, however, was still white. “Ethan and Aaron will be out in a minute. It was so freaking cool!” She hugged Abby while jumping up and down, spilling candy. “Could you show us how to do some of that?”
Wonks came out of the school and up to Carly and Abby. “Get along, girls. I will see you next week, young lady,” she said with a pointed look at Abby. She swept off back into the school, her black-and-gray robe swirling around her feet.
Ethan and Aaron almost ran into her. “Sorry,” they mumbled, before jogging down the steps.
“Here you go! We saved one for you,” said Ethan as he handed her a pumpkin full of candy.
“Good, I didn’t get to try everything.” She picked up a blue puffball and bit in. This one was full of gummy bears.
Grabbing their brooms, they headed home. Ethan did loops. “I’m so going to laugh when you throw up,” said Carly as he swooped around her.
“I almost forgot,” remembered Abby as they stopped at Carly’s house, “I need you guys to meet Rainy and me tomorrow morning, okay? We’re gonna conceal the cave then.”
Carly nodded as she waved bye to them.
Mr. and Mrs. Herrin were still up when Ethan and Abby went inside. “Did you guys have fun?”
Ethan said nothing, just held up his partially empty pumpkin and grinned.
“Try not to eat the rest of that tonight,” said Mrs. Herrin, rubbing Ethan’s head. “What about you, Abby? Did you have fun?” Abby nodded and offered them a cat cookie. Mrs. Herrin shook her head, but as soon as her back was turned, Mr. Herrin gleefully took it.
~*~*
The next morning Abby laid out her Glider and started loading it down with books for the cave. Ethan came into her room as she was setting the alarm clock. “I found Carter’s old cauldron. Will it work?” He held it up.
She nodded. “Yeah, Mystic stuff doesn’t depend on the metal in cauldrons, at least not for what we’re going to do.” She laid it down with the rest of the stuff. “Oh, and before I forget, here is yours.” She handed him a small brown pouch. “It’s the bubble mixture.”
“Mom and Dad already left,” Ethan explained as he took it. “And I talked to Aaron. His mom had left already, too. And Brannon is on his way to Misty’s house, so we’re in the clear.” A knock at her window had the two of them looking up. Both Carly and Aaron waved from atop their broomsticks. Ethan opened her large bedroom window and jumped on his broomstick. Abby followed behind on her packed Glider.
The four of them flew over houses and down the cliff’s side toward the cave. “When will Rainy get here?” Carly asked as they stepped inside the cave.
“Soon, I think.” Abby started unloading her Glider. “She said she is sending some stuff over in a few bubbles, so we should get those any minute.”
Ethan and Aaron were putting up the clock when three bubbles glided into the room. They popped simultaneously. “Wow,” Aaron exclaimed when a picnic table with benches, wood, and a few torches came out.
“I can only imagine where she got the picnic table,” said Abby as they moved it into the middle of the room.
Carly was setting up the firewood. “How about a fire?” she asked, picking up the fallen torches.
“Do any of you know how to do a smokeless fire?” asked Abby as she stared at the wood.
“Um, I might be able to,” Ethan replied as he grabbed his bag. Pulling out a few books, he opened one. He practiced silently with his wand a few times before pointing it at the wood. “Senza-flamara.”
A bright white flame covered the wood. “Excellent!” said Carly. She dipped two of the torches into the fire. The fire and three torches lit the room.
Abby started the potion and quickly had it boiling. “I’m here!” said Rainy as she stepped through the tunnel. She was not alone.
“What is that?” asked Aaron, jumping to his feet.
A small winged creature on a five-foot leash flew around Rainy. “This is Pebbles. Sorry, but Celeste needed someone to watch her, and Marcella volunteered me. Careful, she has sharp teeth,” she warned them as they came over to look at the creature. Sharp teeth were not the only things Pebbles had. She used her razor-sharp claws to try and rip open Ethan’s bag.
“She’s hungry,” said Rainy apologetically. She pulled a few dead mice out of her pocket and tossed them at her feet. Pebbles immediately jumped down and started feasting.
“What is it?” asked Aaron again.
“It’s a baby griffon. She’s about three weeks old. Her mom was killed a few days after her birth. A wandering trader found her and brought her to camp.”
Baby Pebbles kept everyone’s attention while she munched on the dead mice. It wasn’t long before she was finished and stretched out. She lay on a small mound of dirt. “Good, she’ll be sleeping soon. Here you go.” Rainy handed Abby a bag.
Grabbing a torch, Abby went into another room to change. “Why does she need to change clothes?” asked Carly as Rainy got her quills ready.
“We need to be in white for the spell to work. Not sure why, but the dance calls for it.” Rainy took off her long coat. Underneath she wore a white skirt and shirt. She removed her shoes as Abby came back in.
“Are there a lot of dances that require you to wear specific things?” Carly asked, taking a seat at the table.
“Only a few of them do, but they’re rarely performed.” Rainy opened her small blac
k-and-gold scroll case. The scroll slid onto the table and she crumpled the parchment into a ball. She then dropped it into the potion, where it immediately started to smoke.
Abby dipped a paintbrush into the cauldron. “Ready?” she asked Rainy, who merely set both hands flat on the table. As Abby drew symbols on Rainy’s hands, palms, and back, Carly questioned, “Why’d you crumple the scroll up?”
Rainy explained as she in turn drew the symbols on Abby. “We draw the symbols, dance moves, and meanings on the scrolls. After dropping it into the potion, we paint the symbols on our skin. Performing the dances is what really ties everything together.”
Finally finished, Rainy got out her worn-looking emblem from her bag. “What is that?” asked Aaron as Abby took hers from around her neck.
“These are our emblems,” began Abby. “They help us dance, or dance good enough that we will be in step with each other.”
“It’s to practice before you get into groups,” said Rainy.
“But I thought you didn’t dance,” broke in Aaron.
“I like to do it for fun, just not very often. I prefer being a Scribbler. But this dance requires at least two people, so I needed to learn it.”
“Ready?” asked Abby, as the shadow emerged from her emblem. Carly, Ethan, and Aaron sat in silence at the table.
Music filled the room as Rainy and Abby stood four feet apart, their black shadows at their sides. “Three dances in two days,” breathed Carly as Abby and Rainy started to spin. A bright white light swirled near their feet as they danced. It started to spread across the cave, taking in the sleeping griffon, the table and its occupants, the walls, and tunnel. Abby watched it cover everything and grinned, knowing what was about to happen. Everything suddenly went black.
“What the—” Aaron started.
“Wow!” Ethan exclaimed. Nobody could see their hands in front of their faces. Just as suddenly it had appeared, the blackness disappeared. They jumped back as Rainy, Abby, and their shadows danced. Abby had to quickly change her hair back to the dull brown color since every time she performed this dance, her hair changed to dark green. Their clothes were no longer white, but dark as night.
When they stopped dancing, Carly, Ethan, and Aaron clapped. The girls bowed to them, laughing. The baby griffon had awakened and was now sniffing herself.
They spent all afternoon inside the cave. Abby, Rainy, and Carly got out books as Ethan and Aaron put up little shelves along the walls.
Holding up the clock, Carly asked, “Where do you guys want this?” They decided to hang it above the picnic table. Abby had taken out the picture of the old couple and their cat and replaced it with the four of them and Rainy sitting around Orn. They were all laughing. “What does it say now?”
“Still the same stuff. I rearranged the time so it won’t say it’s time to go when it’s not, but that’s about it.”
Ethan began a bet with Aaron to see who could get hit the most with jinxes. “So no one can sense the magic we use here?” asked Carly as she practiced lifting water from a cup. At best, she made it swirl, but that was it.
“Nope!” said Rainy gleefully. “That dance was probably the most powerful one we have.”
“No one sensed you start it, though? No Mystics or Wielders?” asked Aaron before he dodged a hairy jinx. “Agh!” He yelped when the baby griffon leapt onto his back at the same time as Ethan let loose another jinx. Abby, Rainy, and Carly burst out laughing. The baby griffon was no longer digging her claws into his back, but now his fur. Aaron had suddenly grown thick, blond hair all over his body.
He looked like a young, small, blond Bigfoot. “Very funny,” he retorted as they rolled around laughing.
Ethan was laughing so hard that he had to sit down. “Palloki!” yelled Aaron, pointing his wand at Ethan.
Ethan flew back and landed in a mud hole. Every time he tried to crawl out, he slid back down. He was completely covered in mud by the time Aaron, now hair free, and Abby came to help him out. He looked up at them and grinned when he grabbed their hands.
“Don’t even!” exclaimed Abby seconds before he tugged them down with him.
Carly and Rainy looked down at them. Laughing, Rainy went and got a rope to pull them out. She handed one end of it to Abby. “Here you go,” she said, giving the rope’s other end to Pebbles. Then pointing to Carly, she said, “Now run to Carly.” Pebbles ran straight at Carly, pulling the rope in her teeth. Abby, Aaron, and Ethan came flying out of the mud hole. Looking dazed, they stared at the baby Griffon, which Carly was now holding. “If you think that was impressive,” started Rainy, “just you wait and see when she’s full grown.”
“Anyone know any cleaning spells?” asked Ethan, trying to swipe mud from his shoes.
Giggling, Carly and Rainy shook their heads. “No, but there is water in the other room,” replied Carly, grabbing a torch. She led the way to the other cave room where the waterhole sat in the center.
Abby stuck her hand in it. “It’s warm,” she murmured, surprised.
“Who wants to go in first?” asked Ethan seconds before Abby jumped in.
Spitting water as she came up, she said, “Yup! Definitely warmer than it should be.” Ethan and Aaron jumped in next.
“You guys care to join?” Abby asked Carly and Rainy.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Carly shook her head. “I can’t swim.”
“What?” Abby looked surprised. “You swam with us in Aaron’s pool.”
Carly shook her head. “The shallow end is just three feet deep, and the deep end is only five feet. I can easily stand in that.”
“I can teach you sometime if you want,” Abby offered as she watched Ethan try to dunk Aaron.
Rainy came flouncing back into the pool room. “Can’t find any towels, but we have blankets.”
“Oh!” said Abby suddenly. “I forgot I have an extra change of clothes.”
As Ethan and Aaron, wrapped in blankets, headed toward the fire, Abby changed clothes. Hanging up her wet outfit, she saw Ethan and Aaron sitting next to a blazing fire.
The clear globe, which Rainy had laid on a shelf, came bouncing off, slamming into the ground with a thud. Rainy groaned as she picked it up. “It’s Marcella … and Rollen now. I’d best go before he comes looking for me again.”
“Rollen’s your brother, right?” asked Carly as she helped Rainy gather her stuff. “We met him at the dance.”
Rainy nodded. “Yeah, he is. He does a lot of things for the Madam, so he’s usually pretty busy.” Rainy waved bye as she headed out, Pebbles flying around her magic carpet. It was just starting to get dark when the four of them followed.
“See you guys later!” Carly waved bye as she headed toward her house. Aaron did the same as they flew over his house. Brannon was eating in the kitchen when Abby and Ethan walked in.
“Mom and Dad aren’t home yet,” he told them. He eyed Ethan. “Why are your clothes wet?”
Ethan shrugged and headed upstairs.
It was early the next morning when Abby left to head toward the graveyard again. Standing near the grave, Joseph Carmichael appeared next to her. “How are you?” he greeted her merrily.
“I’m good. How are the flowers coming?” she asked as she looked over the grave.
“No one’s touched it,” he said, putting his hand through a yellow rose.
“But you should probably know the night watchman will be here soon to see if anything has changed. He’s been bugging us for weeks as to who’s doing it. No worries, though,” he assured Abby. “We know how to be silent when we want to,” he laughed.
“Well, if he’s coming soon, then I’d better leave. I just wanted to come by and make sure nothing’s changed.”
“Come back when you have more time,” he said jovially. “I like talking to the living.” Waving, he disappeared. Stepping back onto her Glider, Abby flew home. Once there, she changed into her robes and went downstairs.
Voices made her slow down and stop when she rea
lized one of them was Mr. Peterson. “What am I supposed to do?” she heard him ask someone. He sounded on the verge of tears. “I didn’t do what they think I did. I barely even talked to her.”
“It’s going to be okay, John.” Abby heard Mr. Herrin’s voice.
“And what about Carly? How am I supposed to tell her this?” He didn’t seem to hear his friend’s reassurance.
A sudden hush echoed. “Abby?” asked Mrs. Herrin.
Wincing at being caught eavesdropping, Abby went into the kitchen. Mr. and Mrs. Herrin and Mr. Peterson stared at her. “Morning,” Abby mumbled.
Mr. Peterson looked weathered. His normally bright red hair even appeared faded. “Everything okay?” asked Abby as they continued to look at her.
Mr. Peterson just nodded as he grabbed his coat and hat. He went outside in a hurry before anyone could say anything. “Breakfast?” Mrs. Herrin asked in an overly cheerful voice.
Abby sat down as Mr. Herrin excused himself and followed Mr. Peterson out. “What’s going on?” asked Abby when they were alone.
“Don’t worry, Abby. It’s a difficult time right now.” Mrs. Herrin quickly left the kitchen after she dumped orange juice in Abby’s cereal bowl.
When Abby got to school, the students were still buzzing about the dance. “It was so cool. They were really nice,” said Martin in their brew class.
Weighing out small gray stones, Abby smiled at him. “I’m sorry I missed it.”
“No worries, I’m sure you will get to see them the next time,” he said. Carly snuffled a giggle. Leaving the storeroom with a handful of gray stones, they went to their cauldrons.
Brock purposely ran into Abby and Carly, and the loud clattering noise of dropped stones had many students glancing up. Martin and a shorter guy in a blue robe helped the girls up. Glaring at Brock, Carly took her seat next to Abby and they started their potion.
“Class, your potion should be a nice light blue. Remember to slowly add the stones. As you do, the potion color will change to that of gray. The potion takes around six months to complete. As any great healing potion, it takes time, so I wouldn’t plan anything dangerous until at least the summer,” Mr. Clement finished as a few students chuckled.