Mercy
stood up and
found her voice. "That's right, Mrs. Boyd." Her knees felt like they might buckle when Mrs. Boyd narrowed her eyes.
G
reen s
parks were shooting out at her.
Mrs. Boyd made a snorting sound. "A likely story. What did you do to
my baby?"
"Nothing!" Mercy protested. "Nothing at all! It was Lindy who..."
Mrs. Boyd turned abruptly and swept from the room as regally as someone her size could manage. The classroom door slammed behind her, rat
tling the inset panes of glass.
"Sit down, girls,"
the teacher's voice was calm, in spite of the storm that had just raged through the room. "
Let's get back to our lesson."
Kelli glanced back at Mercy and gave a slight smile
before she took her seat. Mercy noted that Kelli's hand sh
ook as she reached for her pen.
Mercy slid into her seat, the sound of her own heart beat pulsing in her ears.
Good for Kelli.
Good to have a friend who would come to her defense. She wondered if anyone else would.
When class was over, Kelli lingered behind while Mercy was gathering her books. She pulled Mercy closer and whispered in a hoarse voice. "Man, what a mean old witch!" She glanced around at the student
s who were
practically running from the classroom.
Mercy felt chilled by the venom in her voice. "Yeah, that was bad." She wondered what Kelli would say if she knew the person she had been defending was
the
real witch.
"C'mon, let's get out of here."
Kelli
slung her book bag over her shoulder and led the way into the hallway, swarming wit
h the newly dismissed students.
But when Mercy fell into step beside her, they seemed to clear a path.
Watch out! It's the witch! She'll make you disappear.
Mercy got through the rest of her classes without evaporating any of her classmates, but the temptation was
enorm
ous, especially when they kept stealing f
urtive
glances at her and then
quickly
looking away. She had to force herself not to have any speck of focused intent anywhere in her brain.
Don't want to accidentally shoot you over the moon
.
Greg walked her to her last class and gave her shoulder a little squeeze, just to let her know that he cared. "Don't worry about Mrs. Boyd," he said. "She's just worried
about Lindy,
and
she
took it out on you." He winked as he turned to go to his class and she gave him a
pathetic excuse for a
smile in return. He would never know how much it meant to her for him to be on her side.
Good to have
friends. Good to have a boyfriend.
After school, w
hen Kelli
pulled up to her house,
she had a
n
anxious
frown on her face. "I'm worried about you." She ground the gear into park and idled. "Don't let this Lindy crapola get to you."
Felicity leaned forward and gave Mercy's shoulder a squeeze from the back seat. "It will be all over
soon
and whatever kind of game they're playing will be exposed."
Mercy nodded, knowing in her heart that she couldn't reveal to her best friends the real reason for her
anxiety
.
"Hey,"
Kelli
said. "You need some stress relief. Remember when the three of us used to ride ou
r
bikes out by the lake? We should do that this afternoon.
It's a perfect day.
"
Mercy recalled the simpler times when she and her friends spent hours riding around town and out the country lanes. They talked and laughed. They shared all their secrets...but that was before Mercy had such dark secrets. That was before she knew she was a witch.
"That sounds like fun," Felicity said. "I haven't been on my bike in like forever." She let out a giggle.
"And I've been thinking that I should
really
try to drop a few pounds." She giggled again. "Now that I'm dating an athlete." Her face reddened when she caught Mercy's eye.
"That's a great idea."
Mercy appreciated her friends trying to cheer her up.
She needed them now more than ever. She hoped they would remain loyal, even if all her secrets were revealed...even if the whole town learned that she was a witch. Would they still be her friends, or would they draw back in horror?
And Greg...How would he react when she was exposed as a witch? Would he dump her right off the bat? She wouldn't blame him. He wa
s such a nice, normal specimen.
"I'll drop Felicity off
so she can change
and we'll be back here on our bikes in about a half hour." Kelli's infectious grin was hard to resist.
"Okay, I'll be ready." Mercy
forced a smile and groped for the door handle. She
dragged into the house and let her backpack slide to the floor.
Later...I'll worry about homework later.
Alastair surveyed her from
the windowsill where he was soaking up his share of sunshine. His glossy black fur glistened in the bright light. "Down in the dumps, M'Lady?" He jumped down and approached her. "Or has something in particular predicated this dour mood?"
"Just everything is all! Just every single aspect of my sucky
,
witchy life!" She slammed into her bedroom and changed to her oldest tee shirt and ragged cut-offs. She emerged with her sneakers in hand
,
but dropped them when she saw something on the table. Two perfect muffins sat side by side on a plate with a freshly poured glass of cold milk.
Where did these come from?
But she knew the answer was Gran. She was keeping her promise to meet all of Mercy's
needs.
She reached out to trace a line in the condensation on the glass.
Ice cold
. "Thanks, Gran." She picked up a muffin and stuffed half of it into her mouth.
Pumpkin,
my
favorite
and still warm from the oven
.
..or wherever Gran made them
.
S
liding into her sneakers
,
she
sat in a chair
to tie them
. She had finished the
last m
uffin and drank the milk when the two girls
roll
ed
to a stop just outside the gate.
She grabbed the door key and stuffed it in the pocket of her shorts and ran out the door. "Just a second," she yelled and went to the carport. Next to the house, her bike rested under a plastic tarp. She hoped the tires had air in them and was
disappoint
ed when she felt them
soft and mushy. Heaving a big sigh, she reminded herself that she was a powerful
witch…
Well, a witch-in-training
. Surely she could fill her bike tires with air. She closed her eyes and felt the Orb gathering power. “C’mon, Orb. Gimme some juice,” she whispered and was rewarded with a warming sensation in her chest. When she felt the tire again it was
fat and resistant to her pressure.
She exhaled the breath she had been holding.
Whew! That was awesome.
She walked the bike out
to
the
road and
secured
the gate
behind her. Swinging a leg over, she felt her tension melt away as she fell in behind Kelli and Felicity. The sun warmed her shoulders and the breeze lifted her hair.
As they sped along, the trees provided intermittent shade allowing her to cool and then warm again when they burst
out
into the sunlight.
Kelli led the way, with her usual enthusiasm. She glanced back now and then to make sure her friends were in tow.
Yes, Kel. I'm here, just floating along in your wake.
The
y passed a farmer plowing his field. The smell of the freshly turned earth filled her lungs, giving her hope of newness, of growth, of things turning out right.
Hope...
Kelli turned to the left onto a narrow two lane road. There were fields on both sides. A
few cattle watched their passing with minimal interest. A rambling farmhouse
sat
on the right ahead
of them,
with rows of neatly planted fruit trees. The girls zoomed by and soon, Kelli slowed to turn onto a dirt road leading to the lake. It was a weekday afternoon, so the usual boaters who showed up on weekends were absent. The water looked cool and tranquil. Barely a ri
pple marred the glassy surface.
Mercy dismounted and leaned her bike against a tree. She took a deep breath and expelled it.
Yeah, Kel was right.
This was what she needed; to get away from all the stress.
She felt like she could breathe for the first time since the dance.
She wrapped her arms around herself and spun
in a circle
. "Thanks, guys. I really needed this."
"No probs. It's just us out here." Kelli leaned her bike beside Mercy's and unhooked a small thermal bag from the handlebars. "I brought refreshments."
Felicity laughed. "Trust Kel
li
to make sure we get fed. All I brought was a blanket." She took an old faded quilt from her bag and spread it on the ground beneath the tree. "I need to go horizontal after that exercise." She plopped down on the blanket and Kelli knelt down beside her.
"C'mon, Mercy. Chill out." Kelli unzipped her bag and passed out
bottles of water
and energy bars.
Mercy grinned, feeling lighter by the second.
She turned around one more time
,
taking in the peaceful setting and stopped abruptly
.
There were some farm animals clustered near the fence
about a hundred feet from where she stood
.
A
fat
,
white goose
,
a
little brown
chicken and a most disagreeable looking donkey
stood
staring at her
.
She wondered briefly if they belonged to the farmer whose house they had passed.
The donkey brayed and the goose
squawked and flapped its wings.
"Earth to Mercy..." Felicity said.
"Um..yeah." She sank down on her knees and ripped opened the wrapping on the energy bar. She wasn't really hungry after the muffins, but she enjoyed the taste of something sweet in her mouth
. As soon as she chomped off a bite of the thick, nutty bar, Felicity rolled up to a sitting position.
"How is the romance with Mr. Awesome?" She tilted her head to one side. "Has he kissed you yet?"
Mercy strangled on the mouthful of grains and nuts. She coughed
and hacked. "Whuf?"
Felicity rolled her eyes. "You know. Has Greg laid a liplock on you yet?"
Mercy sipped some of the
water
, managing to get the glob in her mouth to go down the right passageway. When she turned, both girls were staring at her, obviously expecting an answer. "Well...yes. We kissed...Twice."
The donkey started a loud and obnoxious hee-hawing and kicked against the fence.
Felicity let out a little squeal of delight. "I knew it!
You
two are just too sappy all of a sudden."
Kelli let out a loud snort
. "Well, you and Arthur are just as sappy."
Felicity blushed.
"I suppose that you and Chad haven't kissed...or is it Barry?"
"Could be." Kelli wrapped her arms around her knees and gazed up at the tree branches.
"Well, which one is it? Chad or Barry?" Felicity asked. "You're playing it so cool, I can't tell who you like best."
Kelli shrugged. "Neither can I."
This se
n
t all three girls into a fit of lau
ghter.
Mercy sat down on the edge of the blanket and sipped her drink. The
lake
looked so
peaceful
and a little breeze was picking up
a light ripple to give texture to the surface. "You like Chad and Barry both the same?"
"It's not like you and Greg. I mean, you guys have been goofy about each other for eons. I'm glad he finally made his move."
The donkey again. Kicking the fence and bellowing out its demented hee-haw.
"Me too," Mercy agreed. "Having Greg for a boyfriend is what I always dreamed of, but I never thought it would happen." She screwed the cap on her empty bottle and shoved it back in the bag. "I guess I always thought he would go for a mor
e aggressive type, like Lindy."