by K E O'Connor
“I’m sure you won’t let that happen.”
Monty bounded back into the room.
“If I have to tell you one more time—”
“This is important.” He slapped a large paw over Olympus’ mouth.
“Is it the corpses?” I said.
“No, but there are two witches, some huge scarecrows, and your familiars outside. They’re trying to break in.”
Chapter 5
I shoved down the last of my donut and raced after Monty into the front office. Sure enough, Odessa, Storm, three mean looking scarecrows, and my familiars stood outside. And they looked scarily determined.
The building shook, and I grabbed the desk.
Olympus was scowling as he raced out to join me. He looked out the window. “Did your friends just do that to my office?”
“Um, maybe. But I don’t think they meant to make the walls shake.”
“A spell of that magnitude is always intentional. What are they playing at?”
We both grabbed the desk as the building was rocked again by another blast of magic from outside.
“What do we do? What do we do?” Monty zoomed around the room. “Should I go and eat them? That’s a lot of witch to eat in one sitting. What about that terrifying spider? And how do you eat a scarecrow? I’m purebred carnivore. Straw won’t digest!”
“Monty! Don’t eat my friends. I think they’re here because of me. They’re worried because I’ve gone missing.”
He slowed his frantic zoomies. “So... no witch for breakfast?”
“No! Olympus, you have to give them a more convincing story about what you’ve done with me.”
“I don’t. And it’s none of their business. The Magic Council was within its rights to have you arrested and taken away. Once you’re in the system, there’s nothing your friends or familiars can do about it.”
“So tell them I’ve been sent somewhere. Somewhere they can’t get to. If you don’t, they’ll keep knocking on these walls until they break through. And you won’t like confronting any of them when they’re in a bad mood.”
The front door shuddered, as if something hard had slammed against it.
I peeked out to see the scarecrows backing up, about to begin another charge. “We don’t have much time. Those scarecrows don’t stop moving until they’ve been pulled apart. Even then, they try to get up.”
“Then help me to keep them out.” Olympus sparked magic on his fingers.
“What are you planning to do? Don’t hurt them.”
“I don’t need to hurt them. I just need to keep them out long enough so you can leave by the back door. Their magic will soon wear down, and they’ll have to leave to recharge. But before you go, I need your help to strengthen this magic barrier.”
“I’m not running away from my friends.” I’d done that before, and it ended badly.
“I’m not telling you to run. Just hide.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “No! No more hiding.”
“Then help me! Strengthen this spell to stop them getting through. If we combine our magic, it should be enough.”
I still didn’t join Olympus. “These are my friends. I can’t use magic against them.”
“Indigo! Get your butt over here and help me strengthen the magic barrier.” Olympus had his hands held out, a stream of magic blasting against the wall and front door.
I shook my head. Girlfriends and familiars before guys. Always. “We should let them in and tell them the truth.”
“The more people who know about your disguise, the more likely your cover will be blown,” Olympus said. “We keep this between the two of us.”
“And me,” Monty said. “I’m great at counting, and that makes three of us who know you’re not really you. Oh! Should we include our smelly new friends? If so, that makes... some more people. Well, bodies. Yes, lots of bodies know about your disguise. Is that bad?”
“You don’t count, Monty,” Olympus said.
“Monty counts.” I petted his big, furry head. “And it’s not as if Storm and Odessa will gossip about my disguise with anyone. They know the villagers hate me and the Magic Council want me arrested. They’ll keep this quiet.”
“It’s still too risky,” Olympus said. “The more variables that are involved, the more likely the risk will grow and this will fail.”
The building shuddered again.
I walked over to him. “Do you spend all day running risk assessments through your head?”
“Usually. And it keeps me alive. You should try it, then there might be fewer people wanting you dead.”
“I don’t want you dead,” Monty whispered.
“Thanks, Monty.”
“We have to do something to get them out of here,” Olympus said. “They’re drawing attention to you. People will want to know why they’re trying to smash open this building.”
There was another thud against the door, and the hinges groaned.
“Those scarecrows are unbelievably strong,” Olympus grunted, his forehead beading with sweat as he poured more magic into the barrier.
As suddenly as the magic blasts began, they stopped, although Olympus kept his magic flowing out of him.
“Let me see if they’ve gone,” I said.
“Stay away from the window. This could be a trick.”
“My friends aren’t devious.” They totally were. If they could find a way in, they’d use it. I looked outside to see what their next move would be, but the street was empty.
“What do you see?” Olympus lowered his magic and pulled it back into his hands.
“Nothing. They’ve vanished.” I turned as a grating noise reached my ears. I looked around, but couldn’t find the source of the noise.
Olympus tensed and his forehead furrowed. “Now what?”
“It sounds like it’s coming from under our feet. Olympus, are there tunnels under this building?”
“Not that I know of.”
I poked my head into the next room and squeaked as a large pumpkin rolled toward me. It settled in front of my feet and grinned. A second later, a huge straw-filled body raced toward me. It grabbed the pumpkin and slammed it onto its neck.
I glanced behind the intimidating scarecrow to see a chest of drawers had been shoved to one side, and there was an open grate underneath it.
“Olympus! We have a problem.” I dodged out of the way as the scarecrow ran at me. He charged past and raced into the other room. “Look out! You have an inbound scarecrow heading your way.” I raced after the scarecrow.
It didn’t slow as it barreled into Olympus and slammed him to the floor.
They rolled around for a few seconds, Olympus blasting out magic and cursing as the scarecrow wrapped its huge hands around his throat.
Monty whirled around, snarled, and leaped on the back of the scarecrow. Everything was a blur of claws, teeth, and snarls as straw flew everywhere. Then chunks of pumpkin sailed through the air.
It took Monty less than a minute to rip the scarecrow apart. With a triumphant growl, he tossed away the last of the pumpkin head, flopped down on top of Olympus, and licked his face.
“Urgh! Get off me, you giant furball,” Olympus said.
Monty kept on licking and purring.
Olympus tussled with the big cat for a moment, before laughing. He wrapped his arms around the enormous animal and rolled him off his stomach. He gave the cat’s belly a rub. “Good work, Monty.”
I stared down at Olympus. He was covered in straw, bits of gooey pumpkin, and had several large gashes on his face. “That scarecrow wasn’t playing around. It wanted you dead.”
“My bruised throat agrees. Odessa needs to keep better control of those things.” Olympus accepted my outstretched hand and pulled himself to his feet.
“It’s not her fault. Much like the rest of the village, they’ve been misbehaving.”
“Then she needs to stop making them until it’s safe to do so again,” he said. “Those things are a hazard.”<
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“My scarecrows aren’t hazards!” Odessa rushed into the room, Storm hot on her heels.
I stared at them. “Did you also sneak in through the grate?”
Odessa glanced at me. “Of course. I sent Raphael in first to make sure it was safe to do so.” Her gaze shot around the room and she frowned. “Oh! What did you do to Raphael?”
“Your scarecrow tried to kill Olympus,” I said. “Monty saved him by... um, well, you can see what he did.”
The huge leopard stood and shook out his fur, then trotted over to Odessa and Storm. “I’m at your service. Do either of you give good belly rubs?”
Olympus groaned. “Leave them alone.”
Monty ignored him and wagged his tail.
Odessa grabbed a piece of pumpkin off the floor, a scowl on her face. “Is this really all that’s left of Raphael? He was such a great scarecrow. You could have told him off rather than ripping him apart.”
“He wasn’t playing nice,” I said. “It was either Olympus or Raphael.”
“I know who I’d have picked,” Storm muttered. “Why were you stopping us from getting inside?”
“Because you’re not welcome here,” Olympus said. “I’ve repeatedly told you everything I know, but you keep coming back and demanding different answers. It’s getting you nowhere, other than closer to being arrested for public nuisance and harassment. And I should add sending in an attack scarecrow to kill me to the list.”
“No, no! I told Raphael this was a reconnaissance mission only. Although maybe that was too big a word to use. My scarecrows are simple creatures. I didn’t instruct him to hurt you, but he must have seen something he didn’t like.”
“I know exactly what he saw.” Storm glowered at Olympus. “What’s going on in here? What are you hiding?”
Olympus glanced at me. “If you have a problem with the way I’m doing things, file a formal complaint with the Magic Council.”
Storm’s top lip curled. “And I’m sure as head of said Magic Council, that complaint will be fairly looked at.”
“Of course it will.”
“He’s not in charge of all of it,” I said swiftly. “Just some of it. Um... although I’m not actually sure what Olympus does. What do you do for the Magic Council? I know you’re in charge of bits of it, but which bits?”
“You’re not helping.” He fixed his steely glare on Storm and Odessa. “If this is about Indigo___”
“It is. There’s a problem. We’ve got an emergency on our hands, and we need her back immediately. She’ll know what to do.”
“What’s the emergency,” I said. “Have you located Luna?”
“You know Luna?” Odessa said.
“Um...” I looked at Olympus.
He simply shook his head and wiped pumpkin off his shirt.
Storm strode over and grabbed me by the collar. “What do you know about our missing friend? Did you have something to do with her disappearance? It’s weird how you appeared out of nowhere and have been so quick to poke around in everyone’s business.”
“It’s not weird. I was hired to do a job. Why shouldn’t I be here?”
“I’ve been asking around about you. No one knows anything about you.”
I struggled in her grip, but Storm wouldn’t let go. “That’s because I’m new to the village. What’s your point?”
“I don’t trust you. There’s something off about you. And you’re hiding something, just like he is.” Storm jerked her head at Olympus. “If you had anything to do with what happened to Luna, you’ll be sorry you ever stepped foot in Witch Haven.”
My friends were too on the ball to not notice something was odd about this set up.
Olympus sighed. “I give up. I don’t know why I bothered to try to keep you alive and out of jail. Whatever I do, you’ll find a way to mess it up.”
Ouch! That stung more than it should. “Olympus, maybe we should tell them what’s going on.”
“Tell us what?” Odessa hurried over and stood beside Storm. “Are you involved with what happened to Luna? You’d better tell us the truth. I have plenty more scarecrows who’d be happy to rough you up.”
“No! I didn’t take Luna. But I am here to help you find her.”
“Why would you do that? What’s in it for you?” Storm said.
“Olympus, I’m going to tell them,” I said.
He raised his hands in a signal of defeat. “Do what you like.”
I pried Storm’s fingers from my collar. “It’s me. Indigo. I’m in disguise.”
Odessa’s eyes widened, and she stared at me. “How do we know it’s really you? This could be a dark magic trick to distract us from finding Luna.”
“When you were eight years old, you ate three pumpkin cream pies all to yourself. You barfed bright orange goo all over Magda’s yard.”
Odessa gasped. “I did do that!”
“I was there, trying to clear up the mess before anyone found out.” I looked at Storm. “And you used to sneak into Pippin Jaggers yard, steal her stone gargoyles, and rearrange them around the village. It used to send her crazy trying to figure out why they kept moving.”
Storm’s eyes narrowed. “You could have overheard that from anyone.”
“No, I couldn’t. Only the three of us and Luna knew about that. You swore us to secrecy with our secret handshake.”
“Show me the handshake,” Storm said.
I held out my hand. After a second of hesitation, she took it. I did two normal handshakes, a finger tap in the middle of her palm, and then tapped the tips of our fingers together.
“It is you!” Odessa threw herself at me and squeezed me tight. “What are you doing? Why do you look like that? Where have you been?”
I looked at Olympus, but he was having no part of this. His back was turned to me and his shoulders hunched.
“After Olympus arrested me, rather than taking me to the Magic Council, he brought me here. He came up with the plan to disguise me. This way, I can keep looking for Luna and figure out what the dark magic wants with this village.”
“Oh! That’s a genius plan,” Odessa said. “We should have thought of that. Although I wouldn’t have turned you into an angry goth. Those leather pants...”
“It’s not that clever. We were close to figuring it out. I knew something was off about you.” Storm gave me a fist bump. “You’ve been way too nosy and interested in our business to be anyone other than Indigo.”
Olympus loudly cleared his throat.
I ignored him. “I tried to keep away, but when I saw you getting in trouble with the Magic Council, I had to help. I didn’t want you getting arrested because of me.”
Odessa hugged me again. “I’m so glad you’re here. But can I still be angry with Olympus for taking you?”
I repressed a grin. “Go right ahead.” I looked at my familiars, who’d been silently watching the exchange. “Hey, everyone. Am I forgiven?”
Nugget swished his tail, Hilda tapped her legs on the floor, and Russell fluttered out his wings.
I walked over to them and knelt. “I was doing this for the right reasons. If I walk around looking like myself, I’ll be arrested or attacked by the villagers. This way, I can keep doing good work.”
“You should have told us,” Nugget said. “We’re your familiars. We would have helped.”
“I... yes, I should have done. I’m sorry.”
“You can blame that on me,” Olympus said. “I told Indigo to keep quiet about her transformation. The more people who know, the more likely it is that the secret will get out. I shouldn’t have wasted my breath. Indigo does whatever she likes.” He still sounded annoyed with me.
Hilda climbed onto my shoulder. “We’re not angry with you, but we are disappointed you didn’t trust us enough to tell us what was happening.”
I felt like a total heel. She was right. I should trust them with everything, but I was still new to having familiars, and was feeling my way through this situation. So far, I’d done a lo
usy job.
“I shouldn’t have left any of you out. I regret that. And I’ve really missed not having you around.”
“We missed you, too,” Hilda said. “But from now on, don’t exclude us. How can we perform our roles as your familiars if you hide things from us?”
I hung my head. “You can’t. I won’t mess up again.”
“I’m a hundred percent sure you will,” Nugget said. “But at least we’re here to steer you back to the right path when you make a mess of things again.”
I held out my arm for Russell to perch on. He took flight and landed on it before sidestepping up to my shoulder. He gave me a sharp tap on the top of my head with his beak.
“I know, I’m an idiot.”
“Wait a minute. This story isn’t over. That hideous leopard invaded our home!” Nugget’s narrow-eyed gaze was fixed on Monty.
Oh, great. That was another thing I needed to confess to. “About that. I needed to get access to Magda’s journals. Monty was my distraction while I grabbed them.”
“I told you someone had been in the house,” Hilda said to Russell and Nugget. “After we’d chased away that oversized kitty, I could smell something was different.”
“Sorry again. That was me. I couldn’t risk any of you seeing me. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to keep quiet about my disguise, or that you wouldn’t see through it.”
“We really need to work on our familiar witch bond,” Hilda said, a disapproving note in her voice. “This isn’t how it’s supposed to work.”
“I will. I’ll be an excellent witch to you from now on.”
“But that leopard’s not sticking around,” Nugget said. “There are no vacancies for the role of familiar.”
Monty bounded over and licked the top of Nugget’s head. “We can be friends. I love other cats, even though you’re tiny. And I promise, I won’t eat you.”
Nugget reared back and hissed. “Get your stinky head away from me. I don’t need friends like you.”
“Nugget! That’s not nice,” I said. “Monty’s a sweet familiar. And he’s already bonded to Olympus, so he’s not looking for a new home.”
Monty looked up at me and wagged his tail. “I’m the sweetest familiar ever made. Maybe you could share custody of me with Olympus. You give better belly rubs than him.”