Mercy grabbed
her books
and fled into the
hallway just as the bell rang.
Classroom doors opened and an army of students poured out, filling the corridors with loud, jostling
stranger
s
who edged
her out of their way. She found herself moving with them, her head filled with the sounds of locker doors being slammed, loud voices raised in laughter, giggles and guffaws and finally another eardrum piercing bell drilling its way into her skull. Mercy moved to
an exit
door
and
pushed her way outside into the fresh air.
She
inhaled deeply, her heart thudding in her ears.
Where can I go? Where can I go?
Her feet carried her to the student parking lot where she found Kell
i
's car unlocked and climbed inside. She spent the last period sitting inside, staring out
,
but seeing nothing.
S
he had never, ever cut a class before
. H
er perfect attendance record was blown to hell...but that was just a passing thought because, in reality
,
she didn't care.
When the final bell rang and students filled the parking lot, she remained immobile; an inert object staring straight ahead. Kelli opened the driver
's side and slid onto the seat.
"What happened? I was so worried about you when you didn't come back to class." She stuck the key in the ignition and then stopped, turning to stare at Mercy. She put her hand on Mercy's shoulder gently. "Hey, what happened?
You look as white as a piece of
very white b
read."
Mercy closed h
er eyes. "They think I did it."
"Who thinks you did what?" Kelli asked.
"Sheriff Ringold and Principal Manley. They think I had something to do with Lindy's disappearance. With all of them
disappearing.
They think I did it."
"Oh, that's just ridiculous." Kelli pushed her glasses up on the bridge of her nose. "Do they think you just waved your magic wand and made
the
three
biggest bullies in the entire school evaporate?"
Mercy's throat closed up on her. She gasped for breath. "What?"
"I said---"
"No, I heard you."
They know...They know I'm a witch! What will I do?
She took a deep breath and tried to think rationally. "Why wou
ld I want to get rid of Lindy
and her gang
?"
Oh my God! There's that word again.
Kelli laughed, just one short
,
not really
funny
,
syllable. "You are kidding, aren't you? I mean, they are such complete waste
s
of skin. All they do is prance around trying to be popular and making everyone miserable. I hope they never come back."
"
Kelli, that's terrible! Surely you don't mean that.
"
Kelli snorted. "Well, I suppose not really, but you have to admit, it's been a lot more fun the past few days with them gone. It's like everyone can breathe now."
Mercy nodded. That was just the way she had felt, but that was before the sheriff accused her of causing the disappearance.
Abducted
, he'd said.
Does he think I jumped them, tied them up and...and...then what?
"So hypothetically, say I have this magic wand...and say I wanted to make them disappear. Where would I make them go?
"The planet
Uranus
. That's where I'd send them...if I had a magic wand." Kelli started the car and pulled around to the front to
pick up Felicity and her cello.
Felicity lugged her cello case and book bag to the car.
She stuffed the cello in the back seat and slid in beside it. "Hey, where were you last class? The teacher called your name and looked around like you had disappeared off the planet."
A shiver of gigantic proportions slithered down Mercy's spine.
"I...
u
m..."
Kelli
giggled. "Miss Perfect Attendance cut class. Call the media."
Felicity blinked and raised her eyebrows to the top of her face. "You're kidding! Next thing you know she'll be bringing home Bs on her report card."
"She's on the downward spiral."
Kelli
put the car in gear a
nd headed toward Mercy's house.
I am! My whole life is spinning out of control
. Mercy gazed out the window, not seeing the countryside whiz by.
"Hey, Mercy! I was just kidding."
Kelli
poked her on the arm. "Everyone is due for an off day once in a while."
"Yeah." Felicity leaned forward. "Don't worry. Everyone will have forgotten about the principal's office thing by tomorrow."
Mercy nodded her head, knowing it wasn't true. She wondered who thought she was responsible for the Lindy gang disappearance. She won
dered who knew she was a witch.
When she spotted her house ahead, she gathered her books and realized her backpack was still in her locker with her other assignments.
Great! I won't turn in my homework tomorrow either. Another first.
As Kelli slowed down, Mercy released the seatbelt and reached for the door handle. "Bye. See you tomorrow." She leaped from the car and closed the door to prevent any more com
ments from battering her brain.
Mercy ran inside the house and tossed her
few
book
s
on the table. She didn’t even look for a snack
,
but grabbed the remote and tuned into the WTC.
Darynda turned around quickly. “Whoa! You scared me. Aren’t you a little early?”
“No, I mean, yes, maybe…but
..."
"What's the problem
?
You need to chil
l-la
x. You can't concentrate when you're all stressy." Darynda stretched and closed her eyes. "Take some deep cleansing breaths and clear your mind."
"But...this is important."
"Shush! Clear your mind." She opened one eye to make sure Mercy was following her instructions.
Mercy huffed out a breath. "Okay!" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then another. She felt a little less stressed
and opened her eyes to find Darynda staring at her, her head cocked to one side. "Can I ask you now?"
"Fire away. The WTC customer service department is open and ready for your questions."
"Is it possible...I mean, could I have made someone disappear?"
Darynda squealed and clapped her hands. "Oh, I'm so proud of you!"
"No! Not a good thing. Please tell me if I could have accidentally made someone...three someones
...
disappear."
Darynda shrugged. "Of course you could. Remember what I said about focused intent. Have you been focusing on sending someone away? Is there someone you wanted to disappear?"
Mercy felt her face flush. "Yes," she said in a small voice. "But I didn't really mean disappear disappear. I just meant to get them away from me..." Her voice trailed off. "Oh."
"Oh indeed. And you had the Orb of Enchantments to strengthen your puny efforts." Darynda raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you make something else disappear?"
Mercy nodded miserably. "My grandmother's egg bowl."
"Well, wherever you banished the bowl to, that's where you'll find the others."
"But I don't have any idea where it is either."
"You have to figure it out. I can't do everything for you." She picked up a wooden spoon. "Now, are you ready for today's lesson?"
"I guess."
Mercy blew out a breath and her shoulders sagged.
"I love it when you're so enthusiastic.
" Darynda did an elaborate eye-roll.
"Sorry." Mercy straightened her spine. "I’ve been practicing and I’m ready for the next lesson.”
Darynda folded her arms. “Aren’t you the good student
? Maybe that’s why they call you Brainia
c
.”
Mercy felt a rush of color to her face. “Oh, I d
idn’t know you knew about that.”
Darynda grinned. “I know lots of things.
Oh,
don’t you like to be called Brainiac?”
Mercy frowned. “No, would you?”
“Sure. I would accept it as the less intelligent person’s acknowledgment of my
superior
mental abilities. Isn’t that what this bully person is saying? That you’re smarter than she is? That you make better grades than she does?” The corners of Darynda’s mouth turned up in an impish smile. “Really? Can’t you just be glad you’re a brainiac and not a dumb d
oo
fus
?”
“Yeah, I guess…but I don’t like to be called any names.”
“And she knows
this. That’s why she does it.”
Mercy considered her words.
“And the more it bothers you the more she’ll do it.”
"I'll have to find her first."
"Right, but if you do bring her back, she's going to be the same mean person."
“I know that’s right.”
Darynda leaned closer to the screen. “Because, y’know what? The more you react
,
the more
bullies
will pull your strings.”
Mercy tried to remember the first time Lindy had called her Brainiac. It had been in third grade when the teacher,
Mrs.
Walters put
a gold
sticker on her paper and pinned it to the bulletin board. And
w
hen Lindy had pushed her at recess and called her
b
rainiac,
Mercy
had cried. That was the beginning. “But how can I stop her now?”
“You’re going to have to figure that out for yourself. It’s your power and you’ve been handing it to Lindy on a silver platter for years. It’s going to be tough to take it back.”
Yeah…but if Lindy stays gone a while, maybe I can figure it out before she gets back.
Unless the sheriff locks me up.
“In the mean time, are you ready for today’s lesson on simple elixirs?” Da
rynda gazed at her expectantly.
“Um, yes. I have my notebook right here. What do I need to do?”
“Relax. All the directions are in your manua
l. This is like your lab class.
“You mean we’re actually going to make stuff?” Mercy felt a tingling at the base of her spine. It rapidly coiled up to her neck like an over-active slinky toy.
“Indeed we are. Grab your cauldron.”
“Caldron? We don’t have one of those.”
“I’m kidding. I wish you’d grow a sense of humor.” Darynda cocked her head to one side. “Just grab a large mixing bowl and a wooden spoon. You do have those things don’
t you?”
Mercy bit
off
the answer she was about to shoot back and went to gath
er the required bowl and spoon.
“Make sure it’s
a glass bowl,” Darynda called.
Mercy found the appropriate equipment and brought them back to the television set. “Will these do?”
“Yes, indeedy.”
Darynda had an apron on and her hair was now blonde. She looked like a much younger version of Martha Stewart and spoke with Martha's voice.
"
This is our first elixir.
"
She proceeded to name some ingredients and as she called out the item
,
it would appear in Mercy’s bowl.
"Chamomile, aloe vera, green tea, grapeseed oil, lemon oil, witch hazel..." She giggled. "No relation."
The ingredients smelled good
,
but Mercy had no idea what they were or what she
was supposed to be concocting.
“Stir
well,” Darynda directed.
Mercy stirred and the mixture
liquefied and then
thickened. The fragrance was quite nice, something fruity and flowery at the same time…it smelled sort of like the stuff Gran put on her face at night. In fact, her night cream smelled just like this stuff.
“Now put it in a nice jar and rub some on your face every night.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
Darynda chuckled. “It’s for your
skin
. It will keep you looking young for at least a hundred years.”
Mercy gasped. “My
G
ran uses this
!
”
“All the girls do,” Darynda said. “Cher, Madonna, they swear by this formula.”
“Cher? Madonna? You mean they’re…?”