Miss Enchanter - Ophelia's Story

by Carol Colbert

  “Why don’t you tell me how you really feel?” Ophelia said, looking very annoyed, but somewhat sad at the same time.

  “Gertie has always been a great beauty, but she is also very kind and strong. It really does not seem like you know your mother at all, or even that you care to find out what kind of a woman you had for a mother.” Luna said, eating a piece of a chocolate cookie from the plate of chocolates Thelma had placed on the table.

  “I guess you are right about me not knowing my mom. But you can’t blame me for that.” Ophelia said, challenging her cousins with a stare. “I know in my heart that I was here with my mother and that she took me with her when she wanted to be with that mortal. I know it, so why don’t we cut to the chase and you two tell me what you expect of me instead of just watching me and waiting for me to screw up? Also, why did you both recoil in horror because I want to rename The Spa? The truth I mean.”

  “I just don’t know, Ophelia, this isn’t my story to tell.” Thelma said. Ophelia looked at her cousin Luna “Then you tell me.”

  “Perhaps this occasion calls for a glass of wine.” Luna said. “I am not sure if this is the right thing to do or not, but Ophelia does deserve to have her questions answered. She is right that we can’t expect her to understand if we don’t explain. Are you ready for this, girls?”

  “Depends, how many bottles of wine do we have?” Ophelia said.

  Chapter 6

  “Years ago our mother Ophelia, whom you are named after, and her sister, who is your mother, lived in the old country. Our home was in a beautiful forest area with water falls and vast areas of greenery and flowers. It was owned by The Crown, of course. The medieval area had ponies, cattle, pigs, various kinds of wildlife as well as the deer, all roaming free.”

  Luna paused to take a drink of her wine and a glance at Ophelia.

  “Your mother helped the Crown in the king’s castle that had been there since William The Bastard was on the throne. The people who were not of royal blood were called commoners. The king let us live in the woods and for the most part did not bother us. There were many long stretches of time where the king would not be in the castle. He would be traveling and back then, travel could take months. There were laws that protected the animals there, not out of any great humanitarian traits of the royals, but because there had to be enough of each species of animals for the monarch to hunt at will.”

  “What do you mean my mother helped the Crown? Like she fought in their army?” Ophelia asked, sitting up straighter.

  “No, like in helping with the laundry.” Thelma answered.

  “She was a maid?” Ophelia said a bit too loudly.

  “She helped out. At that time, everyone was in servitude to the king. It was just the way of life. Everyone worked hard. However, even then people mistrusted what they did not understand or could not easily explain. We had to keep certain things to ourselves and even to this day it is the same even here in Enchanted.” Luna said.

  “Yeah, about that – it would help if you two told me who knows and who does not know about us.” Ophelia said.

  “I did not mean to imply that it is the same here as it was back then and there. No, there were very real dangers at that time to be aware of. A time came when a Great Evil came to the land and everyone was afraid this force would take over and slaughter all of the animals and place all the commoners into prisons as slaves to the Crown. Things were so different back then, dear.”

  “Why did our family leave there?” Ophelia asked.

  “I’m getting there. When the Great Evil came to the land, suspicions of witchcraft and sorcerers became rampant. Witches were thought of to be old and ugly, with long noses and warts, not unlike the Halloween costumes you see today. It was also thought that if you had a cat, that made you more suspicious of being evil. The Crown royalty kept dogs and horses as pets and even monkeys, but never cats. In fact, cats were likely to be destroyed when found.”

  “That is horrible.” Ophelia said, getting up to refill all three of their glasses with the cherry wine.

  “Yes, so you see it was a good thing that our family kept our powers to ourselves, we could have been wiped out otherwise. Such a beautiful place to have such evil try to take over.”

  “Wasn’t my mother afraid to work in the palace?” Ophelia asked.

  Thelma chuckled “Your mother wasn’t afraid of anything. There was another young lady who lived in the Palace, a second cousin to the man who was King at the time. She herself had powers, but she told no one. She married and had a son and when she noticed that her son appeared to be one of us, she was instantly terrified that someone would take him away to harm him.”

  “If her second cousin was King at the time, wouldn’t he have protected them?”

  “Perhaps, but no one would take that cause up without fear of being put to death, not even the King. You have to understand how that fear and terror played out to fully understand. It was somewhat like what the Salem witch hunts were about here long ago, but much worse. If someone was suspected of being a witch they would tie her thumbs to her feet and throw her in the lake. If she floated, she was declared a witch and put to death, most witches died in fire, they burned them.”

  “I am certainly glad everything worked out well.” Ophelia said.

  “It took years and a lot of blood, sweat and tears, but we managed. One day the Great Evil noticed your mother in the palace and decided that he just had to have her.”

  “Even though she was one of the hunted? Wait – the Great Evil was a man?”

  “The Great Evil was a man, but a very powerful one, he made sure everyone was afraid of him, he was ruthless and a murderer. As to your mother being one of the hunted, no one knew that. Remember, people with powers were thought to be only the very old and ugly and your mother was neither. She was a great beauty and young. One day the Great Evil cornered your mother and had her trapped to where she could not escape.” Luna said, looking sad and taking a big gulp of her wine.

  “So she killed him, right? Tore out his heart with a bolt of lightning or something, right?” Ophelia demanded.

  “To do so would have placed our entire family in great danger. The Evil would have had us all destroyed, wiped from the face of the earth. Although your mother suffered greatly that day, it would have paled in comparison to what The Evil would have done to our family.”

  Ophelia could not control the tears that were streaming down her face. “Can we stop for now? I can’t take anymore tonight. I never knew any of this. My mother never told me a thing about this. No wonder she wanted me never to know of my powers.”

  “You don’t know that for sure, dear. Your mother told you at a very young age to be careful in the mortal school and at home because of John and Donald. By the time you were of mortal teenage years, your defiance could have led you to somewhere not safe. Then you were gone, jumped into Mrs. Johnson’s car and gone. Your mother not even knowing where you were for several years.” Thelma said.

  “What do you mean not for several years? She never knew. I never came back, I was stuck in feline form living with that old lady Johnson. I would still be there if not for Thelma finding me and bringing me back home.”

  Luna stood up. “It is late, we shall stop here and continue when we all have time to rest and recoup. It has been a long day.”

  Thelma and Ophelia stood on the porch and waved good night to Luna, who left in a wagon pulled by one of the miniature ponies. The snow had started again and the peacefulness of the night did not match what Ophelia felt in her heart. She wanted to hear about her mother, needed to in fact. But she had not realized that the story of her mother’s life would be so hard to hear. She felt a great sadness that her mother was not there to wrap her in her arms one more time.

  Neither cousin spoke to the other the rest of the night beyond saying goodnight, each lost in their own thoughts.

  Chapter 7

  Ophelia was up early the next morning. She had the coffee and French toast made b
y the time Thelma walked into the kitchen.

  “Well, this is a treat, you are up early.” Thelma said, reaching for the mug of coffee Ophelia was handing her. “I trust you slept well.”

  “Not so much. I would like to go back into town today. I didn’t get to see much of it yesterday since I spent most of the time in The Spa. I was thinking, if I did take over the day to day running of The Spa, what would happen to London? Wouldn’t I be putting her out of a job?”

  “Her job would change, of course. You could keep her on as your assistant so you could have more free time. I supposed it is entirely up to you. There are other jobs that London could work at if you would rather take over completely. She would not have to be out of work, there are plenty of jobs to do in Enchanted.”

  “Thanks, I am not sure yet, but it is something to consider. In any case, I would like to go back there today and have another look around and at all the pictures on the walls.” Ophelia said. “Some of them were taken in the old country, right?”

  “Yes, they were. They are all in black and white of course, some are drawings. But you can still see the true beauty of the area in them.”

  “About that – that was so many years ago. Did they really have photography back then and there?” Ophelia asked her cousin.

  “No, not really. If you look closely at them, you will notice that they are drawn or painted.”

  “By whom?”

  “Most were done by Hugo’s mother, but Luna and others had a hand in some of them. There might even be some painted or drawn by your mother.” Thelma said.

  “Wow, they are very impressive. I was thinking,” Ophelia said. “Do you think it would be O.K. if you and I went over to Luna’s house tonight so that the two of you could continue to tell me more about everything? Do you think Luna would mind?”

  “Of course she would not mind. However, why don’t we ask her here, for dinner? That way we can get an early start on the stories, and not be in Hugo’s way.” Thelma suggested.

  “Whichever way works best for the two of you is fine by me. Would you like me to pick up anything from the Village for you? I am thinking of leaving here in just a few moments.” Ophelia said.

  “No, you go ahead, dear, I might make it into the town myself a bit later. The wind that was so strong last night has seemed to have settled down this morning. Shouldn’t be too cold, but make sure you take a throw blanket with you for your ride in the wagon.”

  Thelma stood on the large wraparound porch and watched as Zippy took Ophelia to the hill. She has only been here for a day or two and I already see an improvement in her attitude. Just asking me if she could pick something up in town for me said a lot.

  Ophelia drew the throw blanket around her shoulders. She had on a winter coat that she had found in the bedroom closet, gloves and even a hat. Still, the wind coming off of the water was chilling her to the bone. When they arrived she petted Zippy and then made her way up the hill.

  By the time she arrived on Main Street, Ophelia was ready for something warm to keep her going. She went into Thelma’s Chocolate Shop and walked up to the counter. A very pretty young lady with blond hair and blue eyes greeted her. “Welcome to Thelma’s Chocolate Shop, what can I get you?”

  “You must be Catherine.” Ophelia said.

  “Yes, and I take it that you are Ophelia?”

  “Guilty as charged. How about a large mug of some of that special Chocolate Coffee and a croissant?” Ophelia said, finally deciding between that and a blueberry muffin that she was having a problem tearing her eyes away from.

  “How are you enjoying your time in Enchanted?” Ophelia asked as Catherine poured Ophelia and herself a cup of coffee and motioned Ophelia to a table.

  “We, that is to say, my son Cody and I, have found a home here. We have not been here all that long, but I can’t imagine us ever leaving. Are you thinking of coming to work here, or managing this shop?”

  “Oh no, I would no doubt eat up all the profit and weigh a ton. No, I have been thinking of maybe taking over The Spa. My mother owned it.” Ophelia said. “By the way, I met your husband the other day in the restaurant when Thelma and I went in for breakfast. Nice looking man.”

  “Thank you. Yes, he mentioned it to me as well. The Spa, huh? I have not had the pleasure of getting a massage there yet, but it is on my short list. It certainly is in a beautiful building. Were you thinking of taking it over anytime soon?”

  “I have just started to think about that the other night. I haven’t mentioned my intentions to anyone else except Thelma. Maybe I should take a platter of cookies when I go there this morning.”

  “I have chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin which have just come out of the ovens within the last half hour. I would be happy to box some up for you.” Catherine said. “I know this might sound odd coming from me, but you are a very striking woman, Ophelia.”

  “Thank you, I took after my mother.”

  Catherine and Ophelia talked for a few minutes more before Catherine handed her a box full of not only cookies, but also chocolate candies, to take with her to The Spa and they said their goodbyes.

  Ophelia walked in the door of The Spa and was met by London. “Good morning, you certainly are early today, you are our first customer.” She smiled.

  “Good morning. Today I am here to look around and get a feel for the place. I was in a euphoric state yesterday after that massage and pool and as fantastic as that was, I would like to know more about what goes on here. I brought goodies with me.” Ophelia said, handing London the box of treats.

  “Oh.” London said, looking at the box and taking a moment or two before taking the box from Ophelia’s outstretched hands.

  After a pause of several seconds, Ophelia said “As you must know by now, I am Gertie’s daughter. I have decided to run The Spa myself since I will be staying in Enchanted indefinitely.”

  London placed the box on a nearby reception desk and stated “I will just get my things and be out of your way then.”

  “What do you mean? You are not going to desert me are you, London? Does this job mean so little to you that you would just up and leave with no warning?”

  “I just assumed that you would be wanting to take full control.” London explained.

  “I am the owner, but wouldn’t it be better if you waited to hear what my plans for The Spa are? Of course, if you wish to leave your employment here, that is up to you. However, I was hoping that you could still stay on and help me run The Spa, as my assistant.”

  “Of course, whatever you need, Miss Enchanter.” London said, not very convincingly.

  Ophelia’s first impulse was to tell London that she could call her by her first name instead of Miss Enchanter, but given London’s attitude, she let the moment pass. “Is there an office I could use today? I do not want to have you leave the one you are in just yet, but I would like to take my time and look around. There is yourself and Ashton who work here. Anyone else?”

  London showed Ophelia to a very nice large office and told her that she should consider that her base of operations while she, London, could use the smaller office across the hallway.

  “There is Ashton who is our masseuse, myself, Cindy, who comes in about two days a week to help out with the hair and makeup section, she also helps out at the school. I believe you have already met Janet. She is the lady who gave you the manicure and pedicure the other day.”

  “She did a great job. Unfortunately, I was lost in my own little world of being pampered so much that I did not actually have a conversation with her.” Ophelia said. “You have a vast collection of face creams and lotions I see, does Janet also give facials?”

  “She is trained to, in fact, we have all been crossed-trained for all of The Spa treatments here so we always have someone on hand who can work with customers and their needs. Usually though, it is Ashton who gives the facials and other body treatments.” London told her.

  “Thank you, London. I think for today I will just wander around and
try to stay out of your way. You have been very helpful, and please, do not worry about your employment here. You seem to have running The Spa down very well. I don’t foresee any big changes in the near future. Well, maybe one, the name.”

  “What name are you thinking of renaming The Spa to?” London asked.

  Ophelia thought of the way Thelma and Luna reacted when she had mentioned to them that she would like to change the name of The Spa to Scarlett’s Spa. She was sorry she mentioned it now and would like to find out what caused the look of shock on her cousin’s faces before she told anyone else or actually made the change. “I don’t have a specific name in mind at the moment, just thinking things out. I would like to make this place mine.”

  “I know the pictures are of your mother in here, but they could certainly be of you. It is amazing how much the two of you look alike.” London said before excusing herself to tend to a customer who had walked in.

  Ophelia took her time studying each picture that was hung in the hallways and noticed many more than she had the day before. She saw pictures of a forest with a veil of fog or mist covering the sky, and beautiful thatched roofed houses that reminded her of Thelma’s house here. She saw a picture of a little girl standing with a young lady who might have been her mother. The little girl was smiling and holding her mother’s hand.

  Then she saw it, a picture of her mother and her aunt Ophelia for whom she was named. They were two little girls playing near a pond and in the very far distance there was the King’s Palace. Ophelia thought about taking the picture to hang in her bedroom, but when she lifted it up, she noticed how the flocked red wallpaper looked so much brighter underneath it. She placed the picture back into its place on the wall, smiled, and moved on to the next.

  Ophelia studied each one, forming in her mind any questions she might have about them that she would ask her cousins at dinner tonight. She was sitting behind the desk looking over the list of cosmetics they offered when she saw London walking by the office.