Potion of the Hound

by Alicia Scarborough

  “Yes, 32 possible orders that may or may not have been mixed up. We know of Mr. Jenkin’s and Mabel’s orders,” Helga says, “Luckily we can fix Mabel’s order before she comes in.”

  Ursa asks, “What about the weirdo Mr. Jenkin’s order?”

  “That good-for-nothing, free-loading, jerk?” Helga sneers.

  Agnes confirms, “Yes, him.”

  Helga rolls her shoulder while throwing her hand up in defeat. “We’ll have to create his antidote AND his original potion. Agnes, since you threw me across the room, did you hear what time he’ll be picking them up?”

  Agnes screws up her face. “Ummm . . .”

  Helga lowers her brow and says in a low tone, “Please don’t tell me you forgot . . .”

  “No, no no no . . . I did not forget,” Agnes replies sticking out her tongue while she tries harder to remember. She pulls at her hair and stamps the ground.

  “Don’t hurt yourself,” Helga said.

  Ursa sneers at Helga, “Show some respect to your elders, Helga. She is doing her best.”

  Finally Agnes shouts, “OH! This afternoon. He’ll be by this afternoon to pick them up.”

  They all turn their attention to the clock in the shop. It was already noon.

  Helga asks, “He didn’t give a specific time?”

  Agnes blushes, stating, “Um, no . . . he was kind of . . .” She clears her throat, turning redder, and manages “He was kind of busy.”

  Helga frowns at Agnes. “You perv!” She throws her hands up and starts to pace. “Great, just great. We have no idea of when he’ll be showing up.” She continues pacing and adds, “and to top it off neither one of you KNOWS how to make the antidote for that potion . . . I DO . . . but I can’t do magic . . .”

  “Are you sure that you can’t do magic?” Agnes asks.

  “Yeah, dimwit, I’m sure,” Helga sneers, “You were there when he said I was not allowed to do magic.”

  “Um, I don’t recall him doing a binding spell,” Agnes replies scratching her head with the butt of her spatula.

  Helga stops pacing, blinks, and snaps her fingers. A tiny spark flitters from her fingertips as a stinging sensation numbs them. “Holy cats,” she whispers shaking her fingers, “the nerve of that jerk!”

  Ursa interrupts, “Helga, you shouldn’t.”

  “Shouldn’t what?” Helga questions.

  “You should not use your magic,” Ursa pleas, “You’ll get in trouble.”

  Waving her sister off, “Trouble shmouble,” she says, staring down at her fingers.

  Agnes jumps in, “Hmm, I hate to agree, but I don’t think you should use magic. We don’t know what will happen if you do.”

  “What do you want to do then?” Helga asks sucking her fingers to soothe the pain, the pain meant to dissuade her from attempting any magic.

  They all look down at the ground, shuffling their feet. No one speaks.

  Ursa whispers, “You know, we could try . . .”

  “Try what?” Helga snaps.

  Tears start to brim in Ursa’s eyes, and she says, “You could give us a chance, you know . . . we could try . . .”

  “I’ll ask again . . . Try what?” Helga scoffs.

  “You are SOO MEAN, Helga! You know what I mean,” Ursa cries, burying her face in her hands. Agnes moves an arm around Ursa to comfort her. Agnes throws Helga a mean glance.

  Helga replies, “What? I didn’t do anything.”

  “Yes, you did. Now apologize,” Agnes demands.

  With a grimace Helga mutters an apology, “I’m sorry.”

  Cupping her ear, Agnes taunts, “What was that? I’m sorry, but I did not hear you . . .”

  “Ugh! Fine! I’m sorry, Ursa,” Helga yells.

  Sniffing, Ursa dries her eyes with Higgins’s handkerchief. “Thank you, Helga . . . That’s all I needed to hear.”

  “Whatever,” Helga mutters.

  “Now, will you let us try to prepare the potions?” Ursa demands.

  As Helga is about to answer, the bell above the shop’s front door rings. They all look at one another. Isn’t the door supposed to be locked after Higgins left?

  In walks a young guy, dressed in a red hoody jacket. He’s in his mid teens. Tall, lean muscle tone, deep chocolate skin, and a glorious white smile. He stands up, looks around, and then locks in on the sisters.

  He walks towards them with a girl, in her early teens around Helga’s age, clinging to his arm. Her hair is a vibrant red color. Her alabaster skin is decorated with loads of freckles. Her emerald eyes shoot around the room taking in the surroundings. She stops walking when she sees the sisters.

  Agnes steps forward and asks, “Jay, what’s going on? Aren’t you supposed to be in school right now? Why are you playing hooky?”

  “Agnes, I tried to call earlier . . .” he explains, sending an angry glare at Helga, “but I didn’t get a chance to explain . . . so I had no choice but to come here.”

  Agnes and her sisters look at Jay and then at the girl. The girl clings harder onto Jay.

  “Who’s she?” Helga queries, pointing at the girl.

  “My friend. She’s the reason WHY I need your help,” Jay answers in a pained tone.

  “OH NO! We’re in enough trouble as is!” Helga starts waving her hands in an X motion in front of her and shakes her head from side to side. “We can’t solve your transgressions too.”

  Jay pleads, “C’mon, Helga! It was YOUR potion that caused this mess!”

  All three sisters shout, “WHAT?”

  At that moment the girl shivers and sneezes. A bright sparkle emits over her body as she changes into a gorgeous red fox. She looks around with wild eyes, shakes her head, and then sneezes again, becoming the young teenage girl once more. She rises from the floor and clamors over to Jay clinging onto his arm for safety.

  Jay gestures, “See what I mean? I think I got the wrong potion.”

  All three sisters groan, “Not again!”

  6

  Fox Trouble

  “You’ve got to be joking!” Helga remarks.

  Jay shakes his head, saying, “I’m sorry, Helga. This is no joke.”

  Helga places her hand on her forehead, looking up at the ceiling. She complains, “Why today? Of all days? Why? OH, WHY TODAY?”

  Jay quirks an eyebrow. “What is going on? I know that you said that you were all busy, but what’s the problem?”

  Agnes, Ursa, and Helga all look at one another trying to figure out whether they should tell him their current status with the Order of Magic Officials.

  Agnes tells him, “Jay, I’m sorry to say, but we don’t have the ability to fix your problem.”

  He moves his head slightly to one side and asks, “Why can’t you help us?”

  Ursa replies, “We just can’t . . . not today.”

  He moves his chin out while baring his teeth, asserting, “It was YOUR potion. I think you should fix it . . . TODAY.”

  Ursa winces and looks over towards Helga who is throwing stink eyes at Ursa and Agnes for telling Jay even a small part of their current status.

  Helga sighs, saying, “Jay, we got issues. Over 32 other potions, well 31, got mixed up as well.”

  “Holy cats!” shouts Jay, “That’s nuts! How did THAT happen?”

  “We were wondering about that ourselves,” Helga remarks, gesturing over towards the girl still hanging onto Jay’s arm, “before you came in with missy over there.”

  Jay scratches his chin with his free hand looking thoughtful. “Hmmm, I got my potions yesterday after I helped mind the shop. Everything was prepackaged with the customer names on them.”

  Agnes snaps her fingers. “That’s right! You were here last night, Jay! You helped with the orders . . .” She stops for a second, leans forward towards Jay, cupping her mouth to hide her words from Helga, and whispers, “You didn’t hand out the wrong orders by chance, did you?”

  “No,” Jay answers.

  Helga pipes in, “No, what?”

&n
bsp; Jay turns his head towards her, repeating, “No, I did not screw up any of the orders.”

  Helga puffs her cheeks out and crosses her arms. “Fat chance. Do you have any proof?”

  He pulls his arm away from the girl and dashes up to Helga, maintaining, “Look, I only handed out the orders that were prepackaged. I was not the one that bundled them up. I ONLY handed them out to the customers that came by to pick them up.”

  “Humph, likely story,” Helga huffs.

  “What about you, Helga?” he asks.

  “Me?” Helga blinks.

  “Yeah, you,” Jay prods, “You seem eager to blame someone for this mess. It makes me think you’re responsible.”

  “WHAT?” Helga yells.

  “That kind of reaction smells of guilt,” Jay decrees, pinching his nose shut.

  “Why, you little!” Helga lunges, but Ursa has stepped between them.

  “Helga, Jay does have a point,” she says, “What have you been doing lately? You seem . . . off your game.”

  “Uh, honey, I’m not the one who’s been off my game.” Helga pushes Ursa back, adding, “You’ve been dropping the ball lately too. Like Jay’s wizard training.”

  Ursa leans forward with her hands on her hips, retorting, “Well, you’ve been going out at odd hours lately. For what, I don’t know.”

  Helga pales a little and quietly asks, “Umm, you know about that?”

  “Yes, you’re not very quiet, and I’ve been curious as to why the front door lock of our shop’s been left open recently.”

  Hearing this, Agnes does a double take at Helga.

  With the spotlight on her Helga quickly answers, “Ahh, it’s my new book club. Anyways, that has nothing to do with these mixed-up potions.”

  She stops and peers over at Agnes, asking, “You got that piece of paper from earlier, Agnes?”

  “Paper?” Agnes asks.

  “Yeah, the crumpled-up wad of paper,” Helga adds, as Agnes’s face scrunches up. “The one you read, remember?”

  “Uh, I think I remember.”

  “Where did you put it, Agnes?” Helga asks.

  “I think I put it on the counter.” She points over towards the coffee station.

  Helga retrieves the piece of paper, waving it in the air. “Do you know anything about this, Jay?”

  “What is it?” he asks.

  “It’s a potion label,” Helga replies, “One of the bottles might not have gotten a label. Do you remember if you saw any of the potions without a label?”

  Jay shakes his head. “Like I said, Helga, I didn’t do the labeling. I only handed out the packages.”

  She leans in close, demanding, “Are you sure?”

  Ursa quickly adds, “We’ll just have to believe him. I was busy at the time with a podcast, and you know that Agnes was making a sandwich or some sort of meal.”

  Grimacing, Helga eyes Ursa, noting her odd behavior. “Whatever,” she remarks and continues with the other information that Jay needs to know, “Look, Jay, the other issue that we have is that—”

  Jay snaps his fingers, inserting, “Oh! I did take one of the extra energy potions that you had out by the register, Helga.”

  Helga pales, wondering if she accidentally left one of the so-called energy potions she secretly makes for Lady Ava next to the register. Hurriedly she demands, “You what?”

  “Yeah, there were a few extra energy potions, so I went ahead and took one for my friend here.”

  Ursa butts in, “Yes, Helga, there was an extra energy potion on the counter. I told Jay that he could have it for helping.”

  Bent over, the girl quivers as she shakes her head quickly from side to side, saying in a timid voice, over and over, “I don’t like this . . . I really don’t want to do this again . . . Please Jay . . . please make it stop . . .”

  She reaches for her nose to stifle a sneeze. Her eyes shut tightly as her mouth presses firmly to prevent the sneeze from escaping. Unable to fully control the sneeze, the girl’s ears shimmer a sparkling white glow, switching from human to fox ears.

  Crestfallen, the girl collapses, muttering, “Oh god, Jay . . . I just want to be normal again. I can’t go to school like . . . like . . .” She starts crying.

  Jay throws Helga a look. “I really don’t care what issues you have. All I care is for my friend to get cured. I would do it myself IF I had the clearance to do it. So, that leaves this job to you. Are you going to fix her? Or do I have to go to the Order of Magic Officials?”

  Agnes and Ursa untangle the girl from Jay’s arms and guide her to an open table while Jay continues his conversation with Helga.

  “Jay,” Agnes talks over her shoulder, “Even though Ursa and I are good at coming up with antidotes, this particular case looks like it is far more complicated than our typical brew mishaps. Only Helga can whip something up to remedy it.”

  “So, what’s it going to be, Helga?” he asks jutting his chin out towards her.

  Looking between Jay and the girl, Helga fidgets, trying to come up with a decision. As of right now she’s already in hot water with the officials. If Higgins were to come back and see the state of the girl, then Helga could count on being hauled on down to the station.

  Sweat starts to stream down Helga’s face. She has to do what she can to cure this girl. Her only option is to try and do magic. It isn’t like Higgins truly took her magic. Her fingers did spark some magic earlier, but there was also definite pain accompanying those sparks. However, if she can manage that pain and do a little magic, how will Higgins know, right?

  “Fine,” Helga mumbles, “I’ll help her . . .”

  Slapping his hands and then rubbing them together, Jay exclaims, “Wonderful!”

  Holding one finger up, Helga says, “On one condition . . .”

  “What?” Jay asks.

  “That no matter what, you accept the following . . .” Helga starts to count off the various conditions on her fingers, explaining, “One, you will never tell anyone where you got your potion. Two, if the cure does not work, you will still LEAVE the officials out of it. Three, if you do involve the officials, you will not mention that you got the potion from us . . . You will leave us out of it. Four—”

  Jay interrupts, “Wait a moment. Why should I be following your conditions?”

  “You want our help, right?”

  “I could go and get the help from the Order of Magic Officials, as well,” he reminds her, “so, really, I should be the one with conditions—not you.”

  Horror stricken, Helga stammers, “You wouldn’t . . .”

  “I would. So—”

  Helga quickly replies, “Fine! Fine! Just the first two conditions, and you got a deal!”

  Jay scratches his chin, taking a few glances up as he ponders Helga’s offer. Helga bites her lip as she waits for Jay to decide.

  Besides the quiet sobbing of his friend, the room is silent. Outside the traffic on Highway 124 can be heard as the drivers honk at one another from time to time. Pedestrians pass the shop chatting and smiling.

  Even though only one minute passes, Helga feels it is taking hours for Jay to make up his mind. She bites harder on her lip to prevent herself from an outburst. Patience isn’t her thing. Her hands open and close to relieve some of her pent-up tension.

  “Okay,” he agrees.

  Almost bursting, Helga lets her breath loose, gasping for air. She was holding her breath as a technique to help with her anger issues. She wheezes, “Okay?”

  Jay nods, “Okay, I accept the terms. Now, get to work.”

  Helga hustles over to the table where Agnes and Ursa are seated with the girl. The girl has her arms on the table as she continues to sob into them. Helga pulls a chair out and sits in front of the girl. She then raps on the table to get the girl to look up from her arms.

  The girl sniffs a few times and looks up. She uses her hands to wipe the tears from her eyes and then glances at Helga. Agnes and Ursa stay seated beside the girl as Jay moves behind the girl’
s chair and places a hand on her shoulder. The fox ears of the girl twitch and move towards Helga, waiting for her to speak.

  Helga clears her throat and then asks, “What’s your name?”

  The girl opens her mouth but stops when Jay squeezes her shoulder. She glances back at him as he shakes his head no.

  He responds, “She goes by the name of Ruby.”

  The girl looks over at Helga and waits.

  Helga frowns but continues, noting, “She could have told me that herself.”

  Ruby replies, “That’s my nickname. Not my real name.”

  Agnes adds, “Ah, sounds like Jay is protecting you.”

  Ruby raises her eyebrows, questioning, “Protecting me? How?”

  Helga answers, “It’s never a good idea to give magic users your real name. They can control you with it. That’s why he gave us your nickname. Why he answered for you.”

  Ruby flattens her fox ears a little and crinkles her nose. “Huh?”

  “Even nicknames have power. If you answered with your nickname, we would still be able to control you, but it’s not as strong as a real name,” explains Helga.

  “Oh,” Ruby responds.

  Ursa pats Ruby on the hand. “No worries. We have no intention of controlling you. We just needed a name so that we’re not calling you ‘girl’ or ‘her’ anymore.”

  Ruby gives a weak smile and turns her attention back on Helga.

  “So, do you still have the potion,” Helga asks, “that Jay gave you?”

  Ruby starts rubbing her arms and answers, “No.”

  “What was the potion supposed to be?” Helga asks.

  “It was supposed to be an energy potion,” Ruby replies, “We both were studying for finals, so we needed to stay up late.”

  Helga quirks an eyebrow at Jay, asking, “An energy potion?”

  “I’m not breaking any magic law. Any wizard or witch of my Order knows that mortals, like Ruby, can have them,” Jay snaps, “I looked it up. It’s LEGAL.”

  Helga holds her hand up towards Jay, offering, “I meant no offense.” She returns her gaze to Ruby, asking, “When did you realize that the potion wasn’t working?”

  Ruby blushes and explains, “When I started yawning. Jay said that those potions always work, and it was weird that this one didn’t do anything. He said that it probably was a dud, which happens from time to time.”