by Tonya Kappes
More and more questions made my head foggy, only making me crave a Ding Dong even more.
I put the bottle in my bag for safekeeping. All my evidence was going to stay with me at all times. I couldn’t risk anyone else coming in and ransacking the place again.
I quickly put everything back in its place, which didn’t take too long since there wasn’t much there to begin with. After all, it was only four days. . .right!
I dragged the chair underneath the air conditioning vent and quickly unscrewed it using the tip of my fingernail.
Luckily, the intruder, who I was sure was Raven, didn’t think to look in the vent, because Faith’s computer was still in there safe and sound.
My intuition told me I was going to have to use more than my psychic ability to solve this one.
Before I dug too deep into the Mortimer family history, I wanted to see exactly where Raven was and what she was doing. Maybe I could catch her fleeing from here. Or did she realize she had dropped her bottle on the way out? She’d be back for it, I just knew it. But when?
Madame Torres was deep in the bottom of my bag. I pulled her out and gently tapped the glass with my fingernail.
Nothing.
I tapped again, this time a little harder.
Still nothing.
With both palms securely around the globe, I shook it.
“Whoa!” Madame Torres gave off her ‘I’m mad’ red glow. “I’m not one of those toy eight balls. And you can’t shake me until you get the answer only you will accept.”
“Flea market!” I shouted back.
“Fine, what do you seek?” She asked.
“I want you to show me Raven.” That was it. I was sure she’d be running back into the woods by now.
“No can do.”
“Yes can do.” I repeated back to her. “There is no time to be snarky, Madame Torres. I demand to see Raven.”
“You don’t understand.” Madame Torres’ demeanor had suddenly saddened. “Raven has put a block up. She has figured out a way to void her of any tracking.”
Defeated, I put Madame Torres back on the nightstand. “Dark-Sider,” I murmured, wishing that I knew a little bit more about them.
There had to be something on the computer that gave a clue to who had done this.
“Hmm.” The computer started up quickly. “I guess when you have money, you can afford the top-of-the-line laptop.”
I scanned through her documents, but there were only notes from classes. Her picture folders were empty as well as the other folders, which made me believe that the University police had already swiped the laptop clean. No wonder it was still in her room.
My intuition told me to stick with what I was good at to solve this crime. . .cures. Plus, I had to beat Raven on whatever potion she was working on.
So I closed the laptop to focus on a new potion to help Faith come out of the sleep and tell us what was going on. If she did wake up, she’d be able to tell us that Raven was the Dark-Sider who wanted to find out the Ultimate Spell.
Thinking about the reaction Faith had to the first potion, and since it only made her nails come back to life, maybe I could bring her back to life potion-by-potion, starting with her respiratory system. If she can breathe on her own, maybe her other functions would start as well.
Chapter Seventeen
“You are doing a lot of homework for only being in for two days.” The cashier at Wands, Potions and Beyond slowly scanned the new ingredients.
“Umm, hmm.” I tried not to look at her. She obviously knew the rule was that we weren’t allowed to work on any potions that weren’t class related.
“What class is it again?” The whites of her eyes were bright against her fair skin and purple hair. Her fingers with black nail polish on the tips picked up the last bottle and she read the label.
“Nux Vomica. I don’t recall using that as a beginner.”
“Just put it in the bag.” I ordered her. So what if it was the root of a poison nut. It was used for all sorts of cures according to my Magical Cures Book.
“Whatever,” she growled. Her eyes stared over top her heavily blackened eyeliner. “All you Good-Siders are alike.” She dangled the Wands, Potions, and Beyond bag on her finger. I went to get it and her finger curled around the handle. “Your intuition is way off.”
I grabbed the bag and headed straight out the door. That was the problem. My intuition wasn’t working at all.
“Why so gloom?” I jumped around flinging my sack in the air as Gus ducked to miss a hit square in his pretty little jaw bone. “Whoa!”
“You scared me! You can’t go around teletransporting yourself into my business or life.” I stomped across the street to the cottage dorm. Gus followed. “You can’t come in here.”
“Want to bet?” He disappeared.
“Whatever!” I yelled into the night sky hoping he could hear me.
Without looking at anyone, I darted up the stairs and back into my room to find Mr. Prince Charming nestled in Gus’s arms as they sat on my bed.
“Told you I could get in here.” He stroked Mr. Prince Charming.
“Traitor,” I mumbled under my breath when Mr. Prince Charming looked up at me.
I threw the bag of ingredients on the desk and plopped down on the little couch.
“So you are snooping?” His dark snappy eyes looked at me. “Your Aunt is not going to like this.”
“Is that so?” I reached for the bag and took the bottles out setting them next to my little cauldron. “She hasn’t been so forthcoming with me either, and needs to be; especially if she wants me to look into a few things.”
“She what?” He darted up and Mr. Prince Charming shot off his lap. “What do you mean?”
“She gave me the key to the administration building so I could use my intuition skills to figure out who had done this to Faith. Only. . .” I hesitated and tapped on Faith’s laptop that was still on my desk. “Someone had already gotten to the file and ripped out the important page.”
The cauldron gave off a couple puffs of smoke.
“Come on.” I waved my hand for him to follow me. I needed to go back over to Faith’s room and get the pop can out of the trash so I could salvage any type of spit. That would be great for a respiratory cure.
I grabbed the laptop to put it back.
“You can get kicked out for that too.” He gestured to the pink laptop.
“Not mine. Faith’s. It seemed she broke a lot of rules and never got in trouble with the University.” It was true. Faith had broken a lot of the University rules, but her daddy’s money probably paid for a lot of people to overlook things. Only someone didn’t overlook something and left Faith to die.
“Eww. . .Why are we coming in here?” He drew back with a twisted look on his face and pointed to Faith’s name on the door.
“I’m the one who gave Faith the cure that made her nails come back to the living.” I reached in the wastebasket and grabbed the can. “I can’t figure out a full cure to bring her back, so I’m going to do it little-by-little.”
Amusement danced across his face. He flipped his head to the side; his shaggy mop settled into a mess on top his head. “You are a clever one.” He shook his finger at me.
Slipping back out of Faith’s room, we went back to mine where I began Faith’s new cure.
“Your Aunt is really not going to like this. It can get you kicked out.” Gus watched as I threw in a pinch of the Nux Vomica, and then he quirked back when the flames shot up in the air.
“It’s fine. Just stand back.” I assured him. “Quite frankly I didn’t care if Helena kicked me out or not. What is it going to do to me? Not let me take over Whispering Falls Village Council President when Izzy retires? Whoop-dee-doo.”
“What are your thoughts on who is doing it?” Gus asked.
“My initial thought is Raven, but things don’t add up.” I told him about the pictures of her and Faith, plus how they seem to be good friends. “I did find this.”
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I threw the little potion bottle that Raven had accidentally left behind after she ransacked my room.
A shocked look crossed his face.
“I think she was trying to send me a warning signal.” I shrugged. “Don’t get me wrong. I care about Faith, but I really want to find Eloise.”
Recalling her in the shackles made me work quicker on the respiratory cure.
The thin substance that rose in the cauldron with gray oddiments smelled like mud and a mixture of blueberries.
“Thank you,” I whispered under my breath. There was a scent. A strange combination, but still a smell. The last potion I made for Faith was odorless.
This gave me a little hope that she was coming back to us and soon Eloise would be too.
“This is crazy.” Gus gushed as the liquid oozed out of the cauldron and dropped into the small opening of the can. “They never let this cool stuff happen here.”
“If you think this is nuts.” I shook the can in front of his face. “What until you see what happens when I give it to Faith.”
“Cool. I’ll meet you there.” Gus turned to disappear.
“Wait!” I put my other hand out. “I want you to Teletransport and let me know if the coast is clear. I don’t want anyone seeing us.”
He nodded. Then he was gone.
Chapter Eighteen
The coast was clear as I made my way into Faith’s hospital room. Gus wasn’t there as far as I could tell, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t be showing up at any time.
Mr. Prince Charming hopped up on Faith’s bed.
Meowl, meoowl. He touched Faith’s cheek with his paw.
“I know, buddy. I wish she’d wake up too.” I rubbed my hands down his back while I looked over Faith’s body. There was no change. Only her fingernails were perfect, just like the old Faith. “Here goes nothing.”
Just like I had done yesterday, I parted her lips with one of my hands and tipped the pop can into the open space.
The potion was thick like honey and it took me a few shakes of the can to get one big drip out. I backed up shielded my eyes. There might be another crazy explosion like the previous reaction and I wanted to be prepared.
Beep, beeeeeep, beep, beeeeeep, blip, blip, beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!
“Oh, no you don’t.” I ran over and looked at the monitor that was hooked up to her. “No, no, no.”
I grabbed Faith by the shoulders and jerked her up and down, before I heard footsteps running down the hall.
Hiss, hiss. Mr. Prince Charming jumped down and took our rightful hiding place under the hospital bed. Taking a cue from him, I threw myself on the ground and rolled under. We were getting really good at this.
Please no, please no. I begged with my eyes squeezed shut. Did the potion kill her? The last thing I needed was to be marked a murderer. . .again.
This spiritualist lifestyle was proving to be very difficult.
“Get the cart!” The nurse screamed out of the door when she noticed Faith had flat-lined. “She’s stopped breathing!”
A slew of nurses came running, filling the room. All of them shuffled around. They must’ve been doing a lot of poking and prodding because I could hear the clicking of a lot of buttons.
“Stand back!” I heard the male voice demand the nurses to move. He shouted, “Clear!”
Thump, thump. The bed bounced up and down with each shock of the paddles the doctor had placed on Faith.
“Clear!” He screamed again.
Beep, beep, beep, beep.
“Wait.” He ordered. All the shoes that were lined up around the bed took a step back. Everyone made an audible, deep gasp. “This is a miracle. I need to know exactly what happened leading up to her cardiac arrest.”
The nurses gave a brief overview of how everything played out, only they left out the little bit of magic they didn’t know about. . .which was just fine with me! The less anyone knew the better for me.
“Well, it just goes to show how the body reacts. She seems to be responding to the respirator again.” The doctor seemed proud of himself. “Let’s check her stats.”
Beep, beep, blip, blip, beep, beep. There was some inconsistency to the machine’s noises.
“Doctor, I think she’s breathing on her own.” The nurse’s shoes were a little too close to the edge of the bed. Granted, the life support machine was right up against the wall, just inches from my head.
I tilted my head to the side to make sure the toe of the nurse’s shoe didn’t accidently hit me.
“I think you are right.” The doctor shuffled over. 1, 2, 3, 4. . .I counted the shoes. There were a few clicks. “There are some irregular breathing patterns.”
My heart nearly leapt out of my chest when I felt someone’s hand wrap around my mouth and it wasn’t a fury paw.
“Nice.” Gus whispered in my ear. My heart eased a little when I realized it was him. “I think the potion did it.”
“You freaked me out.” I mouthed and put my finger up to my mouth to shush him. Mr. Prince Charming even knew better than to purr.
“Let’s go ahead and shut off the machine and see if she picks up on her own.” The doctor’s voice broke with huskiness. There was a little apprehension in his tone.
“Are you sure, doctor?” The nurse questioned his actions.
“We have to try. If she doesn’t pick up in fifteen seconds, we will turn the machine back on.” The doctor wasn’t leaving much room for Faith’s body to respond. “Ready?”
The nurse must’ve gestured yes, because the next thing that was heard was the flat-line of the machine.
Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.
I squeezed my eyes shut. I couldn’t bear to hear the beep. I put my fingers in my ears to keep the noise out, but the doctor made me put my hands back to my side.
“1, 2, 3, 4, 5.” He slowly counted, “6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. Let’s turn the machine. . .” The doctor stopped in mid-sentence.
Beep, beep, beep, beep. The steady heartbeat, Faith’s steady heartbeat picked up, creating the nurses and doctor to cheer.
“Amazing.” The doctor’s toes were pointed under the bed. He looked like he was checking out all her vital signs. “Everything looks great. Just keep a close eye on her. I’ll go inform Dean Heal and the University Police.”
The doctor walked out of the room.
“I’ve never seen anything like it.” One nurse said to the other. “I’ll go ahead and take the tubes out, while you clean up the tape marks.”
I glanced over at Gus and he was gone.
“Let’s go get a new set of pajamas for her.” The nurses rushed out of the room, leaving Mr. Prince Charming and me alone.
Mr. Prince Charming ran out from under the bed and I rolled out, only to find Gus standing over Faith’s bed.
“Wow, now that’s magic.” Gus leaned forward and lowered his voice, “You are good. Better than your Aunt.”
My gentle laugh rippled throughout the air.
“Don’t tell her I said that.” He smiled. “Can I tell Faith I was a part of this?”
Faith’s chest rose up and down with each breath she took. Her natural color was coming back to her face. The dark circles under her eyes had lightened up to a light shade of gray.
“Why, Gus, are you in love with Faith Mortimer?” Not only did I notice the love-struck look on his face, but my intuition told me he was pining over her. “You know I have a cure for that.” I winked.
“Isn’t she the loveliest spiritualist you have ever seen?” He reached out and touched her.
“Come on, we have to go before Aunt Helen gets here.” I pulled his sleeve. Before I could let go, he was gone.
Quietly Mr. Prince Charming and I slipped out exactly the way we had gotten in. . . unseen.
Chapter Nineteen
There was a flurry of activity going on outside the hospital. Word had already gotten around that Faith was breathing on her own. Too bad I couldn’t take the credit for it.
; “June?” Aunt Helena lowered her gaze in confusion. “What are you doing here?”
Hiss, hiss. Mr. Prince Charming batted at her, and then darted off toward the cottage dorm.
“Stupid cat.” She scowled. “I asked you a question.”
“I. . .”
“She came to meet me for a drink.” Gus stood next to me and pointed to Black Magic Café. “She has to have some social life while she’s here.”
“Good. I’m glad to see you getting out.” She clenched her mouth tighter. “Carry on.” She glided into the hospital. The automatic doors shut behind her.
Almost immediately the police had the door blocked off, not letting anyone in.
“What about that drink?” I reminded Gus of the promise he made Aunt Helena. “You might not be able to have a real drink, but I can and I need it.”
Hopefully the café wouldn’t be crowded, since everyone seemed to be gathered around the hospital, waiting on some news from Helena on Faith’s condition.
“Fine.” Gus walked down the street toward the café and I followed.
Black Magic Café was very intriguing with picnic tables throughout the green clapboard house scattered around to create seating. The wall behind the counter was made of chalkboard with all the items from the menu written on it.
“Hey, Gus.” The young man behind the counter stuck his hand over the display case of cupcakes and they did some sort of guy handshake. “Want your usual?”
“You know it.” Gus flipped his hair to the side. “This is June Heal.”
The guy tipped his head back as if he was saying hi. Politely I smiled. My intuition told me that he already knew who I was. If not, The few customers that were in the café stared at me, and then followed by a few whispers.
“Make it two.” Gus held up two fingers. “I always get the red velvet cupcake and tall glass of milk.”
“Fine.” It did sound good, but a real adult cocktail sounded better with a Ding Dong.