TEN MINUTES LATER Tom and Jordan were helping Aunt Lindy and Plenty pack the LTD. We all hugged one another goodbye – with the exception of Vanessa who offered another apology before returning to my boutique. I gave Aunt Lindy a warm hug. “I’m at least glad we got a bit of time to talk. I hope everything turns out okay.”
“I hope so, too,” she smiled. She turned to look at her daughter and shook her head. “I’m sure it’ll be fine. I hope she doesn’t try any odd spells again.”
“You and me both.”
Aunt Lindy tucked a pair of sparkly earrings in my hand.
“What’s this?” I asked, confused. They weren’t really my taste.
“They’re Plenty’s,” she said. “They’re not valuable, but they are favorites of hers. I’ve never been good at a lot of magic, but maybe you could take these and bind her from repeating this particular mistake.”
I smiled. “Thanks, Aunt Lindy. I’m not sure what I can do, but I’ll try.”
I made my way to my cousin and gave her a hug. “I’m sorry about your cheek. I’m sure it’ll be fine. You’ll find a good surgeon, and will look better than ever when this is done.” I pressed a jar of a healing salve into her hand. I’d made it a couple weeks earlier. “Use this. It has calendula, aloe, honey and yarrow. All are awesome for cuts.”
“Will it really help?” She looked hopeful.
I bent down and rolled up my pant leg, exposing my knee. “See that,” I asked, pointing to my knee cap.
“See what?” she asked.
“I fell on some sharp gravel over the summer. I had a really nasty scrape and a couple mean cuts. They were all oozy and there was even some pus. I whipped this salve together and used it four times a day for a month. It healed it right up, and even minimized the scarring. Now I just dab on the balm once or twice a day.”
“I don’t see any scars,” Plenty said, looking closer at my leg. “You need to shave your legs, though.”
“Thanks. I’ll consider that. But there’s a scar there. I can see it when the light hits it just so, but it’s almost gone now.”
“Wow, that stuff must be amazing,” Plenty said. She broke into a broad grin and gave me a warm hug. “Thanks! And send me another batch in the mail. I’m going to use this like crazy.”
“Will do, cousin.”
Two minutes later they were peeling off down Portage, making their way toward the highway.
My mother moved closer to my side. “I don’t remember you falling and scraping your leg. Not since you were a child, and that was your other leg.”
I lowered my pant leg and rolled up the other one, raising my knee up. “You mean this one?” I said, pointing to an old scar.
“Yes, that’s the one,” my mother said.
“I guess I just got my story – and the leg – wrong.”
“Well, it did a lot to soothe Plenty.”
“They always say believing is half the battle,” I replied.
Epilogue
FOR SEVERAL DAYS I received a barrage of selfies. Plenty and Aunt Lindy made it home that afternoon and the first thing Plenty did was head to a plastic surgeon’s office. He promptly took care of the wound and promised to do all he could to reduce scarring. He told her he thought she had a very good chance to look like she’d never been cut in the first place. I hoped, for her sake, the curse hadn’t left a deeper mark than any medical professional could remedy.
In the meantime, I made a poppet and along with the cotton stuffing I tucked the earrings which Aunt Lindy had slipped to me before they left.
As I stitched up the doll, I tied a series of intricate knots around its head, hands and torso.
“What are you doing?” Jordan asked, as he watched me finish my project.
“A bit of preventative magic. This will keep Plenty from trying any other wacky or ill-informed spells.”
“No more cursed mirrors?”
“No more cursed mirrors,” I agreed.
A few months later Plenty emailed me a note, with an image embedded. I looked at the picture first. It was an ad for a plastic surgeon. There was Plenty’s face in a before-and-after photo. The first picture showed a more pensive Plenty with a mostly healed cut on her cheek, and the second picture showed the beaming blonde with a near perfect face, free of any sign of scarring. The text promised a near flawless finish thanks to the expertise Dr. Gray and his fine staff offered their patients.
I scrolled up and read my cousin’s note:
“Hi Poppy,
Got to the doc just in time, as I told you. I was so worried the cut would leave a mark, especially when I exfoliate and apply retinols every day. Dr. Gray, or Gary, as I call him, promised he could fix it, and after a bunch of sessions it’s looking better than ever. (He even lasered off a sun spot, free of charge!) Also, he and I have really hit it off. He’s taken me out to some expensive restaurants, to a black-tie benefit, and he wants to take me to the Bahamas. And … as you can see from the ad, he’s using my before and after to show how talented he is. It’ll appear in newspapers, local magazines and on websites. I’m starting to think that spell wasn’t so bad after all! It’s helped jump start my modeling career, and I’m dating a plastic surgeon!
No hard feelings, and try not to be jealous. (JK … or maybe I’m not JK!!!)
Plenty”
I chuckled and shook my head as I finished the note. Vanessa walked in at that moment and gave me a curious look.
“Funny meme?” she asked.
“No.” I invited her to read the note and look at the ad.
“You’re shitting me,” Vanessa said. “She did a stupid spell, got cut, and meets a plastic surgeon?”
“It’s early in the relationship – if that’s even what it is – but if she’s happy, she’ll stay out of our hair. Plus, I don’t think a plastic surgeon would be too keen to visit the frozen north.”
“Not when he’s planning a getaway to the Bahamas, I guess.”
“As it stands, I only have one hope for her at this point.”
“And what would that be?” Vanessa asked as she leaned a hip against my desk.
“If she marries him, I hope they elope. That’s one wedding I wouldn’t want to be part of.”
The end
About the Author
Magenta Wilde has wanted to be an author since before she could write. After many years of working in the fields of journalism and publishing, she decided she wanted to craft her own original stories. She is married to a fellow writer and editor, owns four cats (but really is owned by them), and enjoys reading, writing, humor and history.
This is Magenta’s second book in the Poppy Blue series. Book one, Giving Up the Ghost, was released in Autumn 2017. A third book, Tricks and Treats, is forthcoming.
Visit her website, www.magentawilde.com, for excerpts and blog posts, or her Facebook page, www.facebook.com/MagentaWildeAuthor for updates.
Plenty of Trouble Page 28