by Tonya Kappes
While Gus waited at the counter, I took a seat at the closest picnic table that wasn’t taken.
“Well, well, well.” The voice was firm. “If it’s not the little goody niece.”
“Get out of the way.” Gus shoved past the girl who was the cashier from Wands, Potions, and Beyond.
“Shut up, Gus.” She glared at him with her hands planted on her hips. “You would befriend her.”
He sat the plates on the table before going back to get the milk.
“Ignore Tilly. She’s bitter that she didn’t get the internship.” He laughed in her face.
“Whatever. Ignore him, Tilly.” Raven appeared behind Tilly and put her hand on Tilly’s shoulder. “Let’s grab that table over there.”
“Why aren’t you at the hospital with your dear friend Faith?” My eyes clung to hers, analyzing her reaction.
“What are you talking about?”
“Faith is supposedly breathing on her own.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Of course you don’t want to believe me because the little spell you put on her isn’t working.” I stood up and came nose to nose with the Dark-Sider.
“Are you accusing me of something?” She shoved me and I fell backwards onto the picnic table.
“Girls!” Aunt Helena appeared out of nowhere. “Stop it this instance. The University does not tolerate violence of any kind.”
“Or potion making either.” The girl from Wand, Potions and Beyond stepped in between Raven and me. “That is exactly what she’s doing, Dean Heal.”
“What?” Aunt Helena’s eyes were sharp and assessing. “Don’t tell me you broke a rule and have been making potions in your room.”
“Dean.” Gus tried to interrupt. “Dean… June. . .”
“Yes!” The girl screamed and pointed. “She has bought all sorts of non-related ingredients and a cauldron over the past twenty-four hours.”
“June, is this correct?” Helena held her hands out to stop Gus from talking. The café fell silent, even the background music had been turned off. Everyone’s eyes were on me. “Well?”
“Yes.” There was no reason to lie. If I did, she’d only go to my room in the cottage dorm and find all the stuff. “But she broke into my room.” I pointed to Raven hoping to get her in a little bit of trouble.
Raven stared with her mouth open.
“Did you not realize I knew it was you when you left your little bottle of this behind?” I took the bottle out of my bag and held the Cimicifuga in the palm of my hand.
“Where did you get that?” She set her chin in a stubborn line.
“June, Raven reported her homework missing earlier.” Lines of confusion deepened along Helena’s brows and under her eyes. “June Heal, I hereby expel you from Hidden Hall A Spiritualist University until further notice, not only for making potions that aren’t school related, but stealing another student’s homework.”
Raven grabbed the bottle from my palms, scrapping a little of my skin off with it.
“But I didn’t steal it! I found it under my bed after my room had been ransacked.” I protested, but it was too late. A couple of Hidden Hall police officers grabbed me and escorted me out before I could prove my innocence.
Chapter Twenty
“Now what?” I slumped down on the bed and rubbed my hand down Mr. Prince Charming’s back. I was very aware of the policemen standing outside of my room waiting to escort me back to the wheat field.
I was not only a disgrace to my Aunt Helena; I hadn’t discovered who had poisoned Faith or any closer to finding Eloise.
Meow, Meow. Mr. Prince Charming jumped off the bed and did figure eights around my ankles. He was right; everything was going to be okay.
Maybe it wasn’t a bad thing that I wasn’t going to be finishing up my last couple of days at Hidden Hall. After all, I could work on a potion for Faith and get some help from my friends in Whispering Falls.
The suitcase was a little heavier since I had packed the extra things I had bought from Wands, Potions, and Beyond. With my purse over my shoulder and Madame Torres snug at the bottom, Mr. Prince Charming and I shut the door to our room.
“Goodbye.” I said to each retired professor that was framed on the wall. Even though they couldn’t talk, they still followed me with their eyes. Or did they? Their eyes darted back and forth between the ends of the hall as if they were trying to tell me something. Each had a deep-set fear. They were trying to tell me something, but what? “I’m sorry. I don’t know what you are trying to tell me.”
“Go!” The policeman stood behind me ordering me down the steps. “Your days of trying to solve crimes are over. Leave it up to the police, Ms. Heal.”
Whatever. With no thanks to them, I heaved the suitcase down the stairs. All the girls, who were never home before, were home now. They didn’t turn their accusing eyes away from me.
I tucked my hair behind my ears and with my head held high, I stepped out into the street and headed toward Whispering Falls. The girls in the cottage dorm weren’t the only ones with curious eyes. What felt like the entire University population stood on the side of the road staring at me and Mr. Prince Charming as we made our walk of expelled shame, only it wasn’t the shame that made me pause and turn around to look. It was my intuition telling me that I was missing something to help free Eloise.
The sky turned gray above the library, which was always sunny.
A hushed silenced blanketed the crowd as we watched the gray sky form clouds in the shape of a cleaning bottle.
Cleaning bottle?
I stopped dead in my tracks. Eloise’s cleaning bottle. My stomach churned with anxiety and frustration on what the cleaning bottle symbol meant. Why couldn’t I figure this out? There seemed to be many clues, but none of them made sense.
Just like the cloud appeared, it disappeared. The dark sky parted and the sun was once again bright and shining over the Once Upon A Time Library.
Chapter Twenty-One
Relief and happiness didn’t fill my soul once I found my way around the Gathering Rock in Whispering Falls. In a few short minutes, I’d be at the clearing just behind my house with the town in the view, but it didn’t make me feel right.
Something was wrong. Eerie and sadness blanketed the air like thick heavy wool. Yes, something was not right.
“June?” Izzy stood by the rock where the villagers always gathered in times of celebration and joy. “You’re home?”
Izzy ran over with her arms stretched out. Her long blonde hair hung like spaghetti down each shoulder. Not the vibrant blonde I had left a couple days ago.
“I got expelled.” I fell into her arms and she embraced me. “What are you doing here?”
I pulled away. There was a tired, weary look that was deep rooted in her eyes.
“I’m tired. I think I’m coming down with the flu or something.” She bent down and picked up Mr. Prince Charming, who was doing figure eights around her ankles. “Plus I was showing Hili the way back to Hidden Hall.”
“Hili?” I had completely forgotten about her. I couldn’t wait to get back to the shop. “Why don’t you stop by the shop later and I’ll have a cure for that flu.”
“That would be great. We really have missed you around here.” She squeezed my hand. “Now, tell me how you got expelled!”
“That doesn’t matter.” There was no easy way to tell her about Eloise. They had been friends for years. “What matters is that Eloise has been kidnapped.”
Izzy drew her hand up to her mouth. She hesitated, blinking with bafflement.
“Eloise had given a student in the class a dose of sleeping spell and it was laced with something that almost killed the student.” I shook my head. “Aunt Helena put Eloise on administrative leave, but before the police could question her, someone kidnapped her.”
“Oh my,” her voice died away.
“I’ve been spending all my free time working on a potion to bring Faith back to life, but nothing seems to wo
rk.” I looked out over Whispering Falls. The sky was different. It didn’t seem to be as blue as it was before I had gone off the school. Shaking it off, I continued to tell Izzy what had happened with Faith and all the things I had found out.
“Faith?” Izzy’s brows formed a V. “Faith who?”
“Mortimer.” Izzy current state of health concerned me. She was visibly weak. She moved much slower than before. “I’m going to drop my suitcase off at home and then get to the shop to work on a cure. I have to bring Faith out of her coma and get the truth out of her before it’s too late. Don’t forget to stop by.”
We hugged and I rushed back to my house to drop off my luggage with Mr. Prince Charming leading the way.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Before I set out for my shop, I grabbed my cell and called Oscar. He didn’t answer, so I thought I’d surprise him with a visit.
Fear and anxiety wove in my soul as I made my way to A Charming Cure. The air was thick and mucky. Whispering Falls wasn’t the same. The grass wasn’t the Kentucky bluegrass I was used to. It was more like the Mojave Desert kind of grass, if there was any grass there.
I’m sure it was my imagination.
Belle’s Baubles was shut tighter than a tick when I peeked in the window. There wasn’t a sign on the window, so I was sure that Belle had gone to get a cup of tea over at The Gathering Grove.
I wasn’t in the mood for tea, really not in the mood for anything. I had to figure a way to get back into Hidden Hall and find Eloise, but not without a cure for Faith.
“You’re back a day or two early,” Gerald stood behind the counter in his top hat. He twirled his mustache with one hand while pouring a cup of tea with the other. “The flu is going around.”
“Is that why Belle Baubles is closed?” I pointed toward the village astrologers shop. It saddened me to see the village in a sick state.
“Yes.” He shook his head. “Even poor Izzy can’t shake it. I’ve been delivering tea to them every night.”
“How long has this been going on?”
“A couple days,” he shrugged, “since you’ve been gone.” He handed me a cup of tea.
“Can I get it to go?” I wanted to make my rounds before I go to A Charming Cure to work on Faith’s cure. “And one more thing.”
He held the to-go cup with curiosity in his eyes over the counter.
“What is the history between you and my Aunt?” I reached for the cup just as he let go and it spilt all over the counter.
“Er. . .er. . .” He turned around and made another cup. But he sat it on the counter this time. “On the house. I’ve got to help the other customers.”
He rushed off and helped the only other person in the shop. My eyes lowered and I bit my lip. It might not be as life threatening as figuring out where Eloise was, but it was definitely a piece of my life puzzle that I needed to know. My intuition told me so.
With my cup in hand, I trotted down Main Street looking at all the cozy shops. I missed Whispering Falls, but it wasn’t the same without Eloise.
“You’re back!” Petunia Shrubwood waved me down from the front of Glorybee Pet Store. Neatly tucked in her messy up-do was a chipmunk. I pulled back when she went to hug me. “Oh it’s Henry. He’s harmless.”
She hugged me anyway.
“Why are you back so soon?” She tilted her head. Her normally vibrant chaotic locks were a little duller. And I could’ve sworn I saw a gray hair or two or ten. But, I wasn’t going to tell her that.
“Are you feeling okay?” I wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to dump all the news on someone who wasn’t in tiptop psychic shape.
“Oh fine.” She waved me off and invited inside the shop.
There wasn’t a stray animal around Whispering Falls. They were all living in Glorybee with Petunia. The smell of animals hit me when I walked past the heavy electric blue wood door Petunia held open. I loved the big door with wavy yellow metal detailing that resembled the branches of a tree. Every single shop in Whispering Falls had an amazing door with details about what the shop had in store for you when you walked in.
The animals scattered across the floor. Some ran up the tree, while others ran into the burrows that were dug in the grass floor.
“Oh, it’s just June.” Petunia moved a little slower than normal.
“Are you sure that you are okay?” I helped her sit in the chair.
“I’ve been a little tired.” Her eyes bordered with tears. “It’s the strangest thing. I’ve done nothing different, but my energy is gone.”
As if time had been sped up, Petunia had aged in the few minutes that I was there. There was no time to waste. Something bad was happening. Was there a correlation between what was going on with Hidden Hall?
“Did something happen in the spiritual world that we don’t know about?” A hot tear dripped down her cheek. “There is something evil in the air. I just can’t figure it out. Even the teenagers aren’t roaming at night.” She looked off into the distance. A blank stare on her face.
I swallowed hard, trying to manage a feeble answer, but nothing would come out. Hili must’ve been close to discovering the Ultimate Spell.
Was the Ultimate Spell the demise of the entire spiritualist world?
Chapter Twenty-Three
Walking over to A Cleansing Spirit Spa, I held out a little hope that my intuition was wrong and Chandra was her happy, spry, palm-reading self that was not a bit sick.
Standing between A Cleansing Spirit and A Charming Cure, I glanced over at the police station to see if there were any lights on over there. It was dark too, just like most of the shops were. Oscar’s apartment was in the back of the police station, so maybe he was there.
I’m sure he was going to show up at some point. When he got my message, he’d know I was home.
“What do you mean you don’t know?” The customer that sat in the chair in one of Chandra’s manicure stations jerked her hands free from Chandra just as I walked in.
The bell above the door jingled when I entered, but that didn’t detour the customer from jumping up and yelling.
“Since when do you not give advice?” The woman’s face contorted, and she shook her fist in the air. “I come in here and don’t want your unsolicited advice, and when I do come in here to get your advice, you don’t give it?”
“I’m sorry,” Chandra mumbled. Her turban was slightly tilted to the right. She definitely wasn’t her jolly self.
“This will be the last time I come here for these overpriced manicures.” The customer stomped past me and then stopped. She looked me square in the eye. “Don’t waste your money.”
Don’t let the door hit you where the. . .I wanted to yell, but I didn’t. Instead, my friend needed to be comforted.
Chandra put her hands in her face and began to sob.
“June, I’m so glad you are back.” Her words were barely audible between her gasps and sobs. “Something has been horribly wrong around here. Everyone is getting some kind of flu; my psychic gift is completely off, if not gone.”
She covered her face again. Her normally perfect manicured nails were chipped and ragged.
“Oh, Chandra.” I bent down and embraced her. “I wish I could stay longer, but I need to go check on the shop. I promise you will be feeling better in no time.”
I stood up. It probably wasn’t the best time to leave a friend in need, but what she and the rest of Whispering Falls needed was me coming up with a cure to this problem. A problem that I was sure had to do with Raven, Faith, and Eloise.
“June,” Chandra stopped me before I shut the door. “For some strange reason, I believe you.”
“Believe me?” I wasn’t sure what she was talking about.
“When you said I’d be feeling better in no time. I believe you. I believe in you.” Her words hung between us. We both knew that what she just said had everything to do with….magic.
I nodded and left, heading next door to A Charming Cure.
“I’m so
glad I ran into you.” Mr. McGurtle stood at the front door with his hand. “I’ve been banging for ten minutes!”
Mr. McGurtle was back to his grumpy old self.
“How was your trip?” I used my key to open the door. The wonderful scents of jasmine, cinnamon, sage, mandrake, and all spice circled around our heads when we walked in.
I flipped the light on. A Charming Cure was in one piece but not in the best of shape. The display tables were sparse with very few bottles on each. The tiered dishes where all the homeopathic soaps were stood empty and the ingredients that lined the shelves behind the counter were either empty or half-full.
“Oh, no.” Mr. McGurtle shook his head and ran his hand down his face.
I didn’t know what he was talking about, but I did know it wasn’t good. I reached behind the partition and took a Ding Dong from my stash.
Offering Mr. McGurtle half, I reluctantly asked, “Do I want to know what you are talking about?”
If anyone knew anything, it was Mr. McGurtle. For a man, he was the nosiest one I had ever met.
I took Madame Torres out of my bag and put her on the stand on top the counter.
Mr. McGurtle looked into the ball.
“Boo!” Madame Torres suddenly appeared, sticking her tongue out. “Miss us?” She cackled and the ball went black.
“Crazy old ball.” He threw his hands in the air and paced back and forth.
I ignored them and walked down the line of ingredients, touching each bottle. There were more important issues than to warn Mr. McGurtle and Madame Torres to play nice.
Trickle, trickle. The sound of the ingredients filling up behind me as I went down the line was magic to my ears.
“Are you not worried about the state of the spiritualist society?” Mr. McGurtle stepped in front of me. His thin fingers pushed up his wide-rimmed black glasses upon his wide nose. His blue round eyes bore deep into my soul. “We have to talk about the Mortimer’s. Faith and Raven Mortimer to be exact.”
Chapter Twenty-Four