Witch School Dropout: A Witch Squad Cozy Mystery #7

by M. Z. Andrews

  Augusta twisted her hands. The truth was hard for her to hear. Pain made her forehead glisten with perspiration and made her cheeks flush with blood.

  “I’ve told you how sorry I was, Phyllis,” she whispered.

  “Sorry didn’t bring back Linda’s father!” Gran bellowed. “My daughter grew up without a father because of you!”

  “Well my children grew up with issues too,” Augusta hollered back. “And that was because of you!”

  Gran shrugged indifferently. “You hurt my child, so I hurt yours.”

  I looked back and forth between the two women. I wasn’t sure exactly what they were talking about now. “Wait, you lost me,” I sputtered. “What exactly did you do to her kids, Gran?”

  “I’ll tell you what she did,” cried Augusta. “She cursed them. She cursed all of them.”

  37

  “How did she curse them?” I asked.

  Augusta looked at her son. “She cursed my first born. My son, Merrick. She was so angry with Samson for breaking her heart by cheating with me all those years ago, that she cursed my son to cheat on every woman that he ever loved and break their hearts in the same way his father had broken hers.”

  She looked at BethAnn. “She cursed my daughter BethAnn that she would find true love, but have her heart broken so badly that she could never bear to face the world again.”

  Finally, she looked at SaraLynn. “And she cursed my daughter SaraLynn. That she would someday give birth to one child, a daughter, but that daughter would be unable to perform magic. With BethAnn unable to give her heart away and SaraLynn’s daughter unable to do magic, that ended the Stone family coven of witches in its tracks. No more little Stone witches running around in the world. Of course, she thought that if Merrick broke every woman’s heart, no one would want to have a child with him. But it backfired on her. Didn’t it, Phyllis?”

  Gran frowned. “If I had known my daughter was involved with your offspring, I would have put a stop to it before it began,” she thundered.

  “Instead they fell in love and created a child! And you knew that my son was destined to break your daughter’s heart someday,” said Augusta. “Which was your own fault, of course.”

  “If you hadn’t stolen my fiancé and killed my daughter’s father, none of this would have happened!”

  My mind was reeling now. I could barely keep up with all of the revelations and the twisting’s of fate. Jax stepped forward though. She held a hand up to stop the two old witches from shouting anymore. “So, let me get this straight,” she said slowly. “The reason that I can’t do magic. The reason that I’m not a real witch is because you put a curse on me?” She looked up at my grandmother.

  Gran let out a deep, heavy breath. “Yes,” she said plainly. “It’s because I cursed you. You’re never going to get your powers, sweetie. I’m very sorry. But you’ve only got your grandmother to blame.”

  “Gran!” I breathed. “You give Jax her powers back right now!”

  Gran frowned. “I will do no such thing! The last thing the world needs is another Stone woman with powers!”

  “Mother, this is not Jax’s fault,” cried my mom.

  Gran’s face said she didn’t care. She shrugged as if to punctuate her scowl. “Auggie killed your father, Linda. Wake up and smell the cabbage. The Stones are a menace to society.”

  Everyone in the room sat stunned. Shocked to discover that the feud between the covens was the result of my grandfather’s death, much like the death of Mr. Bailey. I didn’t know what to say. For once in my life, I felt speechless.

  Finally, Detective Whitman stood up. “Now that all of the secrets are out. Augusta, I need to take you to the station. We have to sort out the role you played in Victor Bailey’s death.”

  She nodded and allowed him to lead her towards the door. On the way, she paused next to Char. “For what it’s worth, Char. I really am sorry.”

  Sorceress Stone and her siblings stood up. They were just as much in shock over the revelations as we all were, but they followed their mother out the door. I was sure they’d find a way to get Augusta released from custody. Afterall, they were Stones and accustomed to getting what they wanted.

  Sorceress Stone stopped at the door. “Let’s go, JaclynRose,” she said. “You don’t belong here.”

  Jax looked stunned as she slowly stood. “But, I don’t want to go Mom,” she said meekly.

  “JaclynRose!” said Sorceress Stone firmly. “It’s time to go.”

  Jax glanced back at me. I gave her a little nod, as if to say you can do it, Jax.

  Jax turned around and faced her mother again. Her hands interlocked in front of her. “Mom, I need to stay. There are too many questions that I need answered.”

  “Your grandmother will answer them.”

  “Mom. I’m staying.” Jax lowered her head a fraction of an inch and put her hands on her hips. “These are my friends.”

  Sorceress Stone looked out the door at her brother and sister that were waiting for her in the doorway. She glanced back at Jax and caught the hard stares of the Habernackles, Char Bailey, and the Witch Squad glaring back at her. She pulled her shoulders back, stiffened her spine, and strode out the door without another word.

  With her mother gone, Jax’s body relaxed and she blew out a puff of air.

  “Way to go, Shorty,” said Alba with a half-smile.

  I threw my arms around my roommate and best friend. “I’m proud of you, Jax. I know that was hard.”

  “Thanks Mercy.” Her voice was muffled as it pressed into the sleeve of my shirt. I let her go and walked towards Char. “Char. The girls and I need to talk to you in the kitchen. There’s something important we need to tell you.”

  Char’s penciled-in eyebrows rose animatedly. “What is it?”

  “Just bring Regis, okay?”

  She nodded, and I headed for the kitchen. Alba, Holly, and Sweets joined, but Jax stayed behind to talk to Reign, my mother, and my grandmother. I was sure that she was brimming with questions, as was I. But first, we needed to come clean with Char. After learning the impact secrets and lies had on those you loved, I didn’t want to wait another moment to tell Char the truth.

  “Are you ready?” I asked, inhaling a deep breath.

  Holly nibbled at her fingernails. “I’m freaking out a little bit. She’s gonna be so mad at us.”

  Alba swatted at Holly’s hands, shoving them from her mouth. “Relax Cosmo. We can always fix it during the full moon.”

  Char entered the kitchen, holding Mr. Bailey’s leash. “We’re here. What’s the word?”

  I pulled the chair from the small desk Mom used for meal planning and ordering the food. “You might want to sit down for this,” I suggested.

  She shook her head. “You’re scaring me, girls. What’s going on?”

  I looked at Sweets. It would sound best coming from her. She gave me a tight smile and then walked towards Char and took her hand. “Char. The girls and I did something this week. We thought we were helping, but we actually made things worse.”

  Char rubbed her stomach uncomfortably. “I’ll take that chair now,” she said.

  I pushed the chair behind her, and she sat down and pulled Regis up on her lap and smoothed the fur on the top of his head.

  “We did a spell on Mr. Bailey’s ghost,” rattled Sweets as if she were pulling a band-aid off quickly.

  “Oh-kay…”

  “And it didn’t exactly work as we’d planned.”

  Char made a face. “What had you wanted it to do?”

  “We wanted to bring Mr. Bailey back to life,” said Alba. “We did a resurrection spell.”

  Char’s eyes widened. “Girls! Resurrection spells have serious consequences. There’s a reason witches don’t go resurrecting their dead loved ones all the time.”

  I lowered my head. “We didn’t know that until afterwards.”

  “So you’re saying to me that you resurrected Vic?”

  “We tried,” said Sweet
s with a little shrug.

  Alba scratched the base of her scalp and pinched one eye shut. “Except it didn’t work.”

  Char nodded. “I assumed as much. In case you hadn’t noticed, we buried him today.”

  Holly’s fingernails made their way back to her lips.

  No one spoke.

  “So what happened to his ghost?” asked Char impatiently.

  The girls all looked at me. I swished my lips to the side and in a small voice admitted the truth. “His ghost went inside Regis.”

  Char’s hand froze mid-pet. Slowly her eyes drifted downwards towards her dog. “In Regis?”

  We all nodded.

  She blinked. “This Regis?”

  We all nodded.

  “Vic’s in Regis.” It was a statement, not a question.

  We all nodded.

  She blinked again. “Vic?”

  “Hello, my little sugar snap. I’ve missed you!” said Mr. Bailey.

  Her eyes widened. Her hands rose up on either side of her as if she was scared to touch her dog. “Vic!”

  The Chihuahua nodded his little head up and down. “It’s me, sweetheart.”

  “Oh my god,” she breathed.

  I held up my palms out in front of me. “Before you say anything else, we still think we can fix this. There’s a full moon this weekend. We have the reversal spell. We’ll get his ghost out of there. I know we can do it.”

  Char dabbed at her eyes as tears sprang forth. “Why in the world would I want you to do that?!” she asked. “I got my Vic back!” She threw her arms around the dog’s neck and hugged him tightly to her.

  “You don’t want us to take his spirit out of Regis?” asked Alba.

  “Heavens no! At least not yet, anyway. I can’t talk to ghosts, but I can talk to my dog, err, my husband now, I guess.”

  “But now your husband is a dog,” whispered Sweets uncomfortably.

  “Better that he’s a dog than dead!” quipped Char, rubbing away the damp spots on her face. “Vic, I’m so glad to have you back! I thought I’d never see you again!”

  I felt my own eyes suddenly water. We’d made her happy. Our dumb little spell had actually worked. Not in the way we’d hoped, but in some way, it had worked.

  “Thank you, girls,” she said. “This is the best day, ever. Well, the best day since Vic died anyway. You gave me my husband back, at least for a little while anyway.”

  Mr. Bailey grinned from ear to ear. “And I got my little lovesicle back!”

  “We’ll give you two some time alone,” said Sweets. She looked at us. “Come on girls.”

  Alba, Holly, Sweets, and I went back into the dining room and left Char and Mr. Bailey to reunite. Gran, Mom, Reign, and Jax were all buried in conversation when we returned.

  “Mercy, I was just telling Jax that I don’t feel comfortable with you girls going back to the dorms yet. I think SaraLynn is going to be even more upset now that she knows your grandmother cursed her family all those years ago. She could very well take her anger out on you and your friends.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest. “Well, what else are we supposed to do? It’s not like I’m allowed to drop out of school or anything.”

  “Reign and I both agree. You can stay here. I don’t like the idea of you living under that woman’s roof for another second.”

  Char and Mr. Bailey came out of the kitchen then. “Well, Linda, Phyllis, thanks for everything. Girls, thank you for everything you’ve done. You have no idea what it means to me to get my Vic back! We’re going to take off. But before we go, Sweets, have you decided if you want the full-time manager job at the bakery?”

  Sweets looked at them curiously. “The offer still stands?”

  Char chuckled. “Of course it still stands. Vic might be back, but he’s in no condition to be baking. I mean, look at him,” she said and gestured towards Mr. Bailey who trotted along beside her. “Besides, we realize now how precious our time with each other really is. I’d rather spend time with him than have him working all day.”

  Mr. Bailey nodded his furry little head. “We want you to run the bakery, Sweets.”

  Sweets’ face flushed red. “Yeah, of course, I want the job!”

  Jax hung her head. “So you are dropping out of school then?”

  “Don’t worry Jaxie. We’ll make it all work.”

  Suddenly, an idea hit me. “Hey girls, you know we only have a month left of school. Mom doesn’t think it’s a good idea to go back to the dorms and Sweets will have to move out anyway. What if we all stayed here at Habernackle’s until school gets out and then during summer break we look for our own place?”

  Jax’s eyes lit up. “You mean all of us live together?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, like get our own place.”

  She frowned then. “I’m not sure my mom will let me.”

  “Don’t worry, Jax. We’ll figure out a way,” I assured her.

  Alba lifted a shoulder. “Works for me. I never liked the dorms anyway.”

  “Anything’s better than sharing a bathroom with a floor of witches,” said Holly excitedly. “Count me in!”

  We all looked at Sweets.

  “Well, Sweets. What do you think?” I asked.

  She sucked in a deep lungful of air. “I think it’s the best idea I’ve ever heard!”

  38

  Despite the puffy white clouds hanging in the cerulean blue sky and the warm sunshine on my face that Saturday afternoon, I felt miserable. My stomach was tied in knots as I crossed the cobblestone pathway in the quad. Hugh met me outside in his usual uniform. Blue jeans, cowboy boots, a snap front shirt, and his cowboy hat. The sight of him still made me excited to see him, and yet I knew what I needed to do.

  “Hi Hugh,” I said with a smile.

  “Hey Mercy Mae. I was happy to get your message,” he said as he sat down on the low stone retaining wall.

  His voice warmed my heart, which made what I had to do all that much harder. “It’s been a busy week,” I said sitting down next to him.

  “I heard about Mr. Bailey, that’s such a shame. He was a nice fella,” he said, lowering his head. Then he turned to look at me from underneath the brim of his hat. “You doin’ alright?”

  I shrugged. “Not much choice,” I said quietly. “The girls and are I moving into Habernackle’s this weekend. Sorceress Stone’s getting a little carried away with the punishments.”

  He frowned. “Aww, well, I’m sorry to hear that. Does that mean you’re not coming back to school?”

  “No, we’ll finish out school. We just can’t live on campus anymore. There’s a lot of family stuff going on behind the scenes. We have a lot of drama that we need to resolve.”

  His head bobbed as he looked down at his hands, folded in his lap. His thumbs twirled around each other. “I see. I’m sorry to hear you won’t be livin’ close by. I’ll have to come off campus to see you is all.”

  My heart throbbed uncomfortably in my chest. “About that Hugh. I’ve had a lot of time to think about things, and I realized some stuff this week.”

  He nodded but didn’t speak.

  “I’m just too focused on my education and my friends right now, and I feel like I can’t be the kind of girlfriend you need, and I don’t want to hold you back.”

  “You’re not holdin’ me back, darlin’,” he objected.

  I winced. “I am, Hugh. You’re looking for a long-term relationship. You’re the first boy I’ve ever dated. Maybe if we’d met later in life, I might have been that girl, but right now, I’m just not ready. I want to get an education, start a career, have fun with my friends. I’m too young right now to think about a super serious relationship.”

  He sighed. I knew he wanted to object, to try and change my mind, but he held his tongue. “I understand.”

  “I’m sorry, Hugh.”

  He gave me his best smile. “Don’t be sorry, Mercy Mae. I’m not. I got the opportunity to meet you, and I enjoyed every second we spent together. Maybe s
omeday we’ll meet up again when the time is right.”

  My heart squeezed tightly in my chest. Just hearing those sweet words made me wonder if I was doing the right thing. “Maybe,” I whispered.

  He squeezed my hand and dropped a kiss on my forehead.

  “Thanks, Hugh.”

  “I’ll miss you, Mercy Mae.”

  “I’ll miss you, too Hugh.”

  Sweets

  I curled a finger over my line, pulled back the bail, and flicked my wrists whipping the end of my pole towards the glassy water. My lure flew through the air and hit the water with a little plopping sound, shattering the smooth surface and sending a perfect circle shockwave of ripples spiraling in the water. Immediately, I began reeling the lure back in.

  “You’re good at that,” said Corey Donovan. His cheeks were pink as he ran a hand through his brown hair. His other hand held his own fishing pole.

  “Thanks,” I said and leaned back against the rock on the bank of the little pond he’d found for us to fish in.

  His brown eyes sparkled in the sunlight as he smiled at me. Two perfectly formed dimples puckered in his cheeks. “I’m glad you decided to come with me.”

  I smiled back. A tingle of electricity coursed down my spine. “I’m glad too,” I said quietly. “Thanks for inviting me.”

  “So you said you’re quitting school?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” I was almost embarrassed to admit it. Quitting, it seemed like such a dirty word.

  “What did your parents say?”

  “At first they were pretty upset,” I admitted. “But once they realized that running a bakery had been my lifelong dream, they knew it was a great opportunity for me and I couldn’t pass it up.”

  Corey nodded. “That’s cool you’ll be doing something you’ve always wanted to do. I’m proud of you.”

  I felt my face flush again. Whether it was from the sun beating down on us or the fact that Corey was so sweet, I wasn’t sure. “Thanks. I’m pretty excited.”