Of Witches and Warlocks: The Trouble with Spells

by Lacey Weatherford

  Chapter 20

  Thanksgiving finally rolled around, and I began to help my mom with the preparations. She’d invited the entire coven to come eat with us this year. Vance helped me put out some seasonal decorations in our formal dining room, and together we transformed the space.

  The dining room table was laden with a beautiful cornucopia, flanked with tapered candles in crystal holders. We finished polishing all the silver from the china cabinet, carefully putting each one in its formal place setting. Vance carried the china dishes from the cupboard and helped me set them with a fancy folded napkin. The table glistened when we were done.

  Vance went outside with my dad to bring in some wood to build a fire in the fireplace, while I went into the kitchen to help mom with the rest of the food preparations.

  “Mom?” I walked over next to her, breathing in the wonderful aromas filling the air. “How come you never let us use magic to help you with things like cooking?”

  “Cooking is an art,” she replied with a smile. “It isn’t something that should be thrown together. Besides, it’s my own little type of magic around here. I need to be valued for some reason.”

  “Mom!” I laughed and hugged her. “You’re always appreciated! Don’t ever think you’re not!” She patted me affectionately. “What can I do to help?”

  “Well, I guess you’re worthy enough to take on the relish tray this year,” she replied with a grin.

  “Oh! Thanks so much, your Majesty, for bequeathing me with such a noble assignment!” I teased back, and she laughed, shaking her head.

  I got the serving trays and the cutting board and began to cut the vegetables. The two of us continued to visit while we finished making the last of the meal together.

  The dinner ended up being a huge success, and it was wonderful having all of our “family” there with us. We ate until we were stuffed, and then everyone helped clear and clean the dishes. Continuing the fun night, we gathered around the piano for a sing-along.

  While several members of the coven were certainly musically gifted, the singing got significantly wilder as the evening progressed. I thought it was due directly to how much wine was being consumed by the older members of the coven. Vance and I watched, laughing at some of their crazy antics. He finally stood and asked me if I’d like to take a stroll in the night air with him. That sounded like a fabulous idea, so we got our coats on and headed out the door.

  “It’s a bit nippy tonight,” I said, when we stepped into the courtyard.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll keep you warm.” Vance smiled and wrapped an arm around me, pulling me close.

  I blew my heated breath into my cupped hands and rubbed them together briskly to warm them a little, then shoved them deep into my coat pockets. We walked slowly together down the dimly lit street, looking at the houses we passed. Many had their windows aglow with home fires burning while the families celebrated their holiday.

  “Today was great,” Vance said, breaking the silence.

  “You really enjoyed it?” I worried that all the extra people around would make him feel nervous.

  “This is one of the first Thanksgivings I can think of in a long time that I’ve had so much to be thankful for. I really felt like part of a family tonight.”

  “You are part of a family,” I said. “You’re my family.”

  “I know,” he continued, trying to explain. “But I’ve never been surrounded by that many people, with that kind of warmth, for an occasion like this.”

  “Well, get used to it,” I replied, smiling at him. “I plan on spending many more celebrations with you in my lifetime.”

  He smiled back at me and gave me squeeze. “I’m looking forward to that, too.”

  Monday morning returned all too soon, and it was time to go back to school once again. We pocketed away all the wonderful memories of the weekend and prepared to buckle down with class work once more.

  Our first light snow of the winter fell overnight, and the roads were a bit too icy for the motorcycle, so Marsha let Vance drive her Audi. Arriving at the school, we found numerous kids running around involved with some pretty intense snowball fights.

  We bypassed the front of the school to avoid the mayhem, and worked our way around to one of the back doors. Reaching Vance’s classroom first, he paused to kiss me goodbye, and I continued on to the science hall where my chemistry lab was.

  Shelly was standing near the doorway when I entered. I stopped in surprise because she didn’t have this class. She approached me with sneer.

  “You’ll never win,” she said with a glare, pushing past me and continuing on her way.

  I turned, watching her for a second, wondering what she was up to, before giving a shrug. I hung my hat, scarf, and jacket on the back of my chair. My lab partner, Maggie Pratt, and I usually had a fun time mixing the ingredients in our assignments together. Science was always fun, and now that I knew about magic, it took on even more fascination.

  Today’s class involved using Bunsen burners, and Maggie already had our protective goggles ready, as well as masks to prevent inhalation of the fumes. The beakers we were using were lined up in a row with the large labeled bottles of chemicals next to them.

  I dug my pencil from my bag as Mr. Fisher passed out the handouts and explained the assignment. Everyone buckled down to do the experiment. Maggie and I chit chatted over recent events and gossip going on at school while we worked.

  “How do you like the snow this morning?” she asked me.

  “I always love the snow,” I replied, waxing a little wistful. “It’s like the world becomes all fresh, kind of clean again. You know what I mean?”

  “Yeah.” She laughed. “Except for when it all melts and everything turns filthy from the mud.”

  “That’s so true,” I said, agreeing with her.

  “So, are things any better with Shelly?”

  “Not even close,” I muttered back, with a shake of my head. “I don’t know what the deal is with her.”

  “I tried to talk to her, and ask her about an assignment this morning,” Maggie told me. “She wouldn’t even look at me. It was like I didn’t exist.”

  “Well, don’t take it personally. I think that’s the way she treats all her old friends now. I don’t know what her problem is.”

  When we finished preparing the chemicals, we lit the burner and began to add the ingredients. All of a sudden, there was a horrible explosion, and I was blown across the room, slamming into the opposite wall hard and crumpling to the floor. I groaned loudly, looking up in time to see the ceiling buckle and begin to cave in.

  Instinctively, I raised my arms over my head as a shielding ray of power shot from the talisman hanging at my neck, forming a magical barrier around me. Debris rained down hard against it.

  “Portia!” Vance yelled loudly into my mind. “Hang on! I’m coming!”

  Screams filled the hall outside as a cloud of dust swept through the room, completely blinding me.

  “Maggie?” I called, choking on the silt-thickened air, since my mask and goggles were no longer on my face. Looking across some of the debris piled around me, as the air cleared a little, I could see the entire outer wall of the classroom was blown away, exposing the outdoors. The roof was completely gone, burying my classmates on the floor beneath.

  I shivered as the cold air swept into the space.

  “Maggie?” I called again with a cough, before trying to climb over the rubble.

  An excruciating pain went through my back, and I screamed.

  “Oh, Portia!” Vance’s frantic voice swept through my head. “Don’t move! I’m almost there!”

  Tears started to splatter the rubble in front of me as I lay still on my stomach, waiting for him to arrive. I wasn’t prepared for what happened next.

  “No! No!” Vance’s voice pelted through my brain, and suddenly he was gone. His mind had shut like a steel trap. He was no longer there, and I knew it.

  “Vance!” I screamed with every
fiber of my being, my heart flooding with true terror. Then the intense, physically crushing pain came throughout my entire body. The kind of pain I only ever experienced when he was moving away from me. Pain like we used to experience during the early days of our binding spell. This time, however, was the worst I’d ever experienced, and it was crippling.

  I lay on the pile of debris and sobbed, the faint wail of several sirens beginning to fill the air.

  “Maggie?” I called again hoarsely. There was no sound coming from the wreckage, just the sounds of people running through the halls, evacuating the building.

  “Vance?” I called mentally. “Where are you?”

  Nothing. Not even a hint of his presence.

  “Can anyone hear me?” I recognized Mr. Holland’s voice shouting over the din coming from the direction of the outer wall.

  “Yes,” I whispered.

  “Can you hear me?” he shouted louder again. “Anyone?”

  “Yes!” I tried to say a little more forcefully.

  “Who am I talking to?” he shouted back.

  “Portia Mullins,” I croaked, my mouth feeling like it was filled with layers of dirt.

  “Portia, can you see any of your classmates or teacher?”

  “No. They’re under the roof.” I started coughing and cried out as more shocks of pain radiated through my back.

  “Do you know where you are?”

  “I think I’m somewhere near the hall doorway. I hit the wall,” I said through my tears.

  “Hang in there, Portia! Help is on the way! Try to hold still, okay?”

  “Hurry!” I said, shaking violently. “It’s getting harder to breathe.”