by Tonya Kappes
My intuition told me that he wasn’t sure how to work it, but I wasn’t going to ask him. “I’m glad you are here. I need a favor.”
Prrr. . . .Mr. Prince Charming purred as he jumped down and did his signature figure eight move around Oscar’s ankles.
I told him about Aunt Helena and Hidden Hall A Spiritual University . “I’m sure you’ll be going.” I informed him and left out all the ‘how they want me to become Village president’ one day details. I didn’t understand it enough to even explain it. “Here’s my favor,” I took a deep breath and continued, “I need you to work the shop while I’m gone for my four days of school.”
It was a tall order. But how difficult could it be to sell the items that were already on the shelf. I wasn’t asking him to make any potions. If there was an emergency, he could ask Izzy. After all, what could happen in four days?
“What?” The sip of coffee he took sprayed out and down, all over Mr. Prince Charming.
Hiss, hiss. Mr. Prince Charming ran out the cat door that Oscar had installed in the front door of the shop.
“It’s not like you can’t do both jobs. Whispering Falls is not a crime-ridden city,” I reminded him; unless he wanted to count the fact that he had just solved the murder of one of the village members. But that was water under the bridge. . .or so I hoped.
“I can’t mix a cocktail, much less a potion.” Oscar laughed, his eyes dancing. His smile faded when he realized I wasn’t kidding. “Oh, you aren’t kidding.”
“No I’m not.” Silence loomed like a heavy mist.
“You’re not what?” Belle Vanlow questioned as she held the door for the last customer of the evening.
She was the closest to my and Oscar’s age that lived in the community. Standing at five foot two, her blonde hair braided in two pigtails dangling below her round cheeks, made her look more like twelve years old instead of thirty.
“I asked Oscar to watch the shop while I’m gone to Hidden Hall.” My eyes darted back and forth between the two.
She didn’t question me, so I knew she had already heard the news of Helena and going to school.
“Yes, I heard about that.” She flipped the open sign to closed, knowing it was time to shut down for the night, and then held up a pair of needle-nosed pliers. “I came by to put your new owl charm on your bracelet.”
“That’s my cue to leave.” Oscar nodded toward the jewelry stuff. “June, I’ll talk to you before you leave.”
“Okay.” I waved knowing, he would make good on his promise. He always did. That was one great personality trait about Oscar; he always kept his word.
Belle and I watched him leave.
“Yep, you seem to have a little something for him.” She grabbed my arm and unclasped my charm bracelet. “And it doesn’t take an astrologer to figure that out.”
Belle was the astrologer in the community. Her jewelry shop, Belle’s Baubles, was a great place for her to have all earthy elements and be able to read people’s stones. When a customer comes into the store, they think they want a certain stone, but Belle knows the stone or piece of jewelry that they really need and somehow talks them into it. They always come back for more.
“Oscar and I are just good friends.” Hmm. . .I admit there did seem to be a little more interest but it was going to have to wait. There would be no future if I didn’t get Hidden Hall out of the way and figure out what Petunia heard from Gerald about my ever-so-endearing Aunt.
“Besides, there are a lot of things I still need to learn about Whispering Falls and my abilities before I can bring anyone else into my crazy life.” I pulled a roll of paper towels out from underneath the counter. I needed to finish cleaning up for the night and have everything ready to go for Oscar.
As Belle worked on putting the charm on my bracelet, I rubbed the inside of the cauldron. As many times as I have done this, there didn’t seem to be a really good way to clean it.
“Those darn things never get good and clean do they?” She stopped to watch. Her pigtails swung in the pot. She grabbed them. Her fingernails were painted light blue with a tiny star in the middle.
“No matter what cleaning concoction I put together, I can never seem to get it all cleaned out.” I gave up and put the tiny bottles of herbs back on the shelf. Belle followed my lead and helped. After we had them placed back in alphabetic order, I went down the shelves to make sure they were replenished.
I had no idea how it was done, but the bottles in A Charming Cure filled up as you put them in their rightful spot. I didn’t care how the magic happened, I was just glad it did.
“Let’s get back to Oscar and this information about him running the store.” Belle put the bracelet back on my wrist.
I tucked the ends of my black bob behind my ears, and rubbed my hands down my apron before reaching around and untying the strings. “Let’s not and say we did.” I hung the apron on the hook on the wall next to the counter.
“I’m not talking about the love thing; I’m talking about how he is going to know what potions to make for the customer.” Her eyes studied me with curiosity.
Back in Locust Grove where I ran A Dose of Darla out of a flea market booth after Darla had died, Oscar was with me day and night helping me make all sorts of cures out of the journal Darla had left me. Little did I know that it was the Magical Cures Book. However, the cure book only worked for me, since I had the spiritual gift of knowing what the real cure needed to be. If the book were stolen or someone else tried to make the cures in it, like Oscar, the cures would strictly be homeopathic with no extra umph in them.
“Oscar has been around me long enough to know what cures a sour stomach or a tooth ache.” That was all Belle needed to know. “But if you could check on him every once in a while, that would be great. And, it’s only four days. What can happen in four days?”
“You’d be surprised,” She muttered under her breath.
Mewl, Mewl. Mr. Prince Charming stood on his hind legs and batted at the dangling bracelet.
“Oh, that reminds me,” I jogged the bracelet up and down letting him play a little more. “What does the owl mean anyway?” It didn’t seem like much of a protection charm like all the other ones that Mr. Prince Charming had given me.
“Umm. . .” She looked at Mr. Prince Charming. He did figure eights around her ankles. “It means wisdom. I think the protection behind it is to use your brains and everything you have learned here in Whispering Falls while you are at Hidden Hall.”
Wisdom? If I were so wise, I wouldn’t have to go to school.
Izzy and Helena caught my eye as they walked out of The Gathering Grove.
“Hey, let’s go grab a cup of tea.” There wasn’t a better time to question Gerald than now, especially since Helena just saw him.
“Oh, I could use some Sleepy Time right now.” Belle agreed and we closed and locked the shop up behind us.
The streets were still filled with some visitors getting in the last bit of shopping or spiritual advice. Even though people didn’t know that Whispering Falls was magical, it was. And each shop owner added a little touch of advice or magic to their customers’ purchases.
I looked into at A Cleansing Spirit Spa, which was next door to Charming Cure, when we walked by. Chandra Shango’s turban was falling off her head as she worked on a customer’s fingernails. The customer was taking in everything Chandra was telling her.
I smiled, knowing Chandra was giving her a bit of advice since she was a palm reader and spent more time on messaging their palm during the manicure than the nails themselves.
Golly Bee Pet Store was filled with customers and their animals. I could see the live tree that was inside the store was filled with all sorts of animals. They all got along. Petunia stood near the cash register with a squirrel on her shoulder as she talked to a bird that sat on top of the counter.
And then there was Izzy’s shop, Mystic Lights. The sign was turned to closed so I was sure she was still with Helena. Izzy was a crystal ball reader and evidently, I wa
s too. Mystic Lights was where Madame Torres came from. She glowed every time I went in to visit Izzy, and that was how Madame Torres picked me. You didn’t pick your ball, or I wouldn’t have the smart-alecky Madame Torres. Not that she wasn’t great and didn’t do her job, she did. But she gave me a hard time while doing it.
Finally, we made it down to The Gathering Grove, Gerald’s tea shop. Mr. Prince Charming had already gone in.
“What’s going in there?” I pointed to the empty shop space next to the tea shop. It was crazy. That wasn’t there this morning. Things happen to appear and disappear in Whispering Falls with a blink of the eye.
“It must be a new shop.” Belle put her nose up to the glass and covered her eyes so she could see in. “Looks like some sort of bakery.”
I grabbed the handle of the Gathering Grove door and opened it for her to walk in. “Maybe Gerald is expanding since he has to drive to Locust Grove to get some of the pastries he sells.”
Belle shrugged and walked on in.
“Good evening, ladies.” Gerald took off his top hat and greeted us. “Seat yourself.”
It was crowded. It was the only place in Whispering Falls to get any type of food. It was a popular destination for dessert and tea.
We scored a little table for three in the corner next to the window.
Gerald came over with a notepad in hand. “Some Sleepy Time for you ladies?”
“Not for me. I’ll have a decaf and one of the red-velvet cupcakes.” I couldn’t get enough of those cupcakes. They had become really popular lately and it was showing on my thighs.
“I’ll have some Sleepy Time and a red-velvet cupcake as well.” Belle nodded.
“Coming right up.” Gerald tapped the pad and went back to the counter to retrieve our order.
“You love sleepy time.” Belle’s eyes narrowed.
“Yes, but I leave early for school and I don’t want to miss my alarm.” I grabbed a napkin from the center of the table and put it in my lap when I saw Gerald coming with our food. He set the cupcakes and tea on the table.
“Sleepy Time for you. And a decaf for you.” Gerald twirled his mustache when he was done. “Is there anything else I can get you?”
I really didn’t want to do this in front of Belle, but I did anyway.
“Yes, can you sit down?” I pushed the chair out and patted it for him to sit. “I have a couple questions about Helena.”
His eyes bulged from his head. I tried not to stare so I looked into my cup and noticed the floating tea leaves. I should’ve ordered it strained, because from what Petunia said, I knew he was reading spiritualist’s leaves without them knowing. This was rule number one in the village rule book.
You aren’t allowed to read spiritualists unless they give you permission. Gerald was a sly one.
“I. . .um. . .I don’t know what you are talking about.” Gerald cleared his throat. A sure sign he was lying.
“Gerald, you know and I know that you read Izzy’s leaves and knew Helena was coming to town.” I said, and then looked over at Belle when a squeak came out of her mouth. “Personally I don’t care, but I do care when it has something to do with me. Helena has everything to do with me.”
He leaned in and whispered, “Does this mean you are going to tell the village council since I’m already on trial for my relationship with Petunia?”
Belle smacked the table. The tea in the small china cups swayed back and forth to the rim, but never spilled over. “I knew it! I knew there was something going on between you two.”
I planted my hand over her mouth. People were starting to stare at us.
“Shh. I’m not talking about that right now. I’m talking about Helena and Izzy.” I took my hand away, and turned back to Gerald. “I’ll make a deal with you. You tell me about the reading that only pertains to me and I will put in a good word about you and Petunia. Plus, I’ll keep my mouth shut about you reading Izzy’s leaves.”
Without hesitation, Gerald stuck his hand over the table. “Deal.”
We shook on it.
“Normally I don’t read leaves, but for some strange reason I looked at Izzy’s cup.” He cleared his throat…again…liar! He talked while I looked down at the leaves in my tea. “There was a leaf in the shape of Hidden Hall and a letter ‘H’ next to it. But, there was a cluster of letters that I didn’t understand. A ‘U’ and ‘S.’” His eyes glowed as he told the reading. He was in the zone. “I got chills when I saw the cauldron with a cross bones and skull.”
Something cautioned me not to interrupt him while he was remembering, but the words flew from my mouth, “Cauldron? I’m the only one who uses a cauldron.”
“It’s not the cauldron that scares me.” His lashes drew down, darkening his eyes. His tone had become chilly. He pointed to my bracelet. “Plus, there was an owl symbol just like the one dangling from your wrist.”
I wrapped my hand around the charm. There was something in my gut that told me I was going to Hidden Hall for more than just honing my psychic skills and an intuition class.
“At least you have Mr. Prince Charming and Madame Torres to keep you company.” Belle gulped. She stared out the Gathering Grove window, unable to look at me.
“Yeah, thanks for your support.” Sarcasm dripped from my lips. I too looked out the window and down the street at what I considered my home.
“Hey, Gerald.” I tossed the keys to my green El Camino in the air. “Since you love my green machine so much, would you mind starting her up a couple times while I’m gone?”
“Does that include a couple times around the block?” His eyes were filled with delight, just like the customers who tasted his amazing tea.
“Absolutely.” I nodded. “Even a trip to Locust Grove to pick up some of those great cupcakes too, if you like.”
I tossed the keys in the air and he caught them, slipping them into his pocket.
“I need to get back to my customers.” He waved and was off to help the next in line.
Something was brewing. I felt it deep in my bones. I looked up at my little cottage on the hill that overlooked all of Whispering Falls. There was a dark cloud hovering over it like a bomb was about to drop at any time.
Chapter Four
Four o’clock a.m., the alarm gonged and I smacked the snooze button, rolling over toward Mr. Prince Charming. He didn’t bother to lift his head or purr when I touched him. We never get up this early. But, we never went to Intuition School either.
Last night, after Belle and I had our little informative session with Gerald, I went back to A Charming Cure to make sure everything was ready to go. My, the gossip spread.
Most of the village population trickled in and out of shop to get the 411 on why Helena had come to town. According to all of them, Helena never showed up unless there was a big problem. Most of them were happy to hear that I was going to school and maybe be the President of the village when Izzy retires, which made me happy since I had no idea what I was doing.
Use your intuition. Is all that Darla had written in the journal she had left behind? I reached over and turned the alarm off, briefly touching the green leather-bound journal of my mother’s last words.
Darla never kept any keepsakes. She said that the memories I needed to keep were the ones in my head.
When my father was murdered, my mother left the village in order to keep me safe and tried to live a normal life. I was little, and slowly a few memories were coming back to me. Somehow she knew I would find my way back to my roots, because she left the journal in the shop. She wrote about her time in Whispering Falls and a few tips of advice for me. Granted it was motherly advice, nothing spiritual or psychic because she wasn’t. But, she did let me know who I could and couldn’t trust within the village.
The globe next to the journal was completely black. I braced myself for what was going to happen when I tapped it. If four a.m. was too early for me, it was certainly too early for Madame Torres.
“Here goes nothing,” I whispered lou
d enough for Mr. Prince Charming to open one eye.
Tap, tap, tap. Pulling back away from the globe, I raised the sheet over half my face. Nothing happened.
Knock, knock, knock! My knuckles rapped on the glass. A bright orange glow immediately lit up the room.
Madame Torres’ red hair was sticking up all over the place. Her eyes darted between mine with the look of death. “June! It’s too early to seek anyone!” My sassy crystal ball yelled back at me.
“Shh!” I pulled the covers over my head. I knew she was going to be mad. “I know I should’ve told you last night about having to get up early, but I didn’t feel like dealing with you when I got home.”
Who knew crystal balls could talk? I certainly had never dealt with a crystal ball, much less a snarky one.
“Do you know its four o’clock in the morning?” Madame Torres’ tried to tame her hair by putting her turban on her head. I tried not to smile at the cock-eyed hat, but it was hard not to. “What? Just because I’m supposed to be at your beck and call, doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
It was true. Madame Torres’ crystal ball was meant for me. The story was that every crystal ball has an owner, but it might take years for them to find each other. I had no clue I was looking for a crystal ball when I stepped foot in Izzy’s shop, Mystic Lights, my first day in Whispering Falls.
Madame Torres told me I was in trouble and knew things I didn’t even know. According to the law, Madame Torres was my crystal ball and now I’m stuck with the small round glass ball with attitude.
“You’d better get ready.” I had no clue how long it took her to get ready. Some days she was all dolled up and other days I’d wake her up from a slumber and I’d never wish my worst enemy to deal with her. “We are starting Intuition School today.”
The globe went black.
Tap, tap, tap.
The globe was black with gold stars floating all around.
“Funny, Madame Torres. I know it’s night time, but we have to do this.” I hated to pull out the big guns, but she left me with no choice. “Did you know that I’m the Dean’s niece?”